Spiritual Needs and the Elderly
To many people, nursing means the chance to show others that someone out there cares about them. This is especially true of the elderly. Many of these people are often in the hospital, and they do not always have family close by that can come and see them. Sometimes they have no family left at all. All people deserve caring and compassion in their time of need, and none more so than those that do not have anyone close to them. While it is true that nurses are often very busy, being a nurse means making some extra time available to let these people know that they are not alone, and that someone is thinking of them. It may be the only bright spot in their day, and it gives them something to hang on to. One way that nurses can help their elderly patients is through spirituality, because it is something that older people tend to cling to more often than younger people. Some of this likely has to do with the idea that their time might be running short, but it is also likely related to the way that these people were raised and the generation gap that they have with young individuals. Even if a nurse is not particularly religious or does not share the elderly person's religion, there is still help that they can provide.
igious materials can be provided, there may be other patients that share a religion and would like to talk to one another, etc. Second, individuals with dementia are often helped through alternative therapies, of which spirituality is one. Naturally, if there are pain medications that will help the patient or if there is some strong chance that the patient can be helped and made to get better by normal medical means this should be undertaken. , and a nurse can help facilitate these kinds of things. Other studies have also looked at the use of music to control fear, pain, nervousness, and other issues. Nurses in the future will have to be even more aware of this as spirituality seems to be growing and how individuals feel about it, as spirituality, religion, and prayer can be considered to be among the list of 'alternative therapies' that are often being addressed today for elderly individuals, especially those that have Alzheimer's, dementia, and other related problems. Physician assisted suicide is not legal anywhere in the United States except Oregon but there are strong opinions that indicate that it is unreasonable to stop physicians from performing this kind of service if it is the patient's desire and the only thing that will ease that individual's suffering (Rogatz, 2001). Self-determination is one of the rights that competent adults have and these individuals are able to indicate whether they want to have treatments such as life-support withdrawn or withheld should they become necessary (Rogatz, 2001). First, spirituality comes into the discussion of physician-assisted suicide, which seems to be of growing interest among today's elderly. For example, music therapy has been used in the past, largely on the elderly population, whether or not these individuals were suffering from Alzheimer's disease or any kind of dementia. They found that those that could listen to music (and control what they listened to) did better, had less discomfort and fear, and were not as worried when they were undergoing the procedure, showing that music therapy does work to reduce fear and agitation - something that is commonly experienced by patients with dementia, since they are often forgetful and uncertain about where they are, who other people around them are, and what's happening to them. However, religion is also what many people would consider a 'touchy' subject and therefore nurses must be careful and conscientious so as not to press their own beliefs too strongly. For those that are terminally ill, however, this physician assisted suicide is often seen by those patients to be the best option. Some patients actually request this because they cannot be helped by any modern means to get better in any way and the pain that they are going through in the process of dying is simply too great for them to bear (Rogatz, 2001).
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