Spirituality in nursing: the challenge of complexity
by Barbara Stevens Barnum
Can nurses be expected to deliver spiritual care? Should nursing claim healing as part of its mission? Should spiritual care be taught in nursing education? What do recent brain studies teach us about spirituality?
Exploring these questions and many more, this new edition of Spirituality in Nursing provides a wealth of insight into current challenges presented to both practicing nurses and students. Newly updated, revised, and expanded, this third edition examines spirituality in nursing from an interdisciplinary perspective, drawing from theoretical, historical, religious, psychological, and even physiological contexts.
In her thought-provoking exploration of this sometimes controversial topic, Dr. Barnum traces nursing’s involvement with spirituality from its historical ties with religion to the current interest in new age and alternative health methods. The chapters offer engaging discussions of important topics such as the distinction between spirituality and religion, spirituality and research, humanism, and death and dying. Taking a problem-solving approach, this book serves as an invaluable guide to understanding the complex and expanding role of spirituality in nursing.
