Question.4041 - How does faith influence or inform your work as a health care provider? Discuss the impact of faith on your scope of practice within your allied health discipline.
Answer Below:
Faith has been profoundly influencing how healthcare providers approach their work, shaping their motivations, ethical perspectives, and interactions with patients (Puchalski et al., 2006). Similarly, in allied health or nursing disciplines, faith might aid in guiding principles for care, patient-centered communication, ethical decision-making, and resilience and self-care. In nexus with this, faith needs to be appropriately balanced with professional standards, evidence-based guidelines, and respect for patients’ beliefs. Thus, faith can serve as a foundation for compassion, empathy, and dedication to patient well-being where religious traditions emphasize the dignity of each individual aligning with ethical principles of health care including autonomy and beneficence (Elnakib et al., 2021). Nevertheless, this faith can even encourage sensitivity and openness to the spiritual needs of patients with the integration of an awareness of diverse beliefs, providers could focus on creating a more holistic approach to care respecting cultural and spiritual dimensions of healing. Healthcare providers need to avoid imposing personal religious beliefs on others rather they may integrate spirituality into practice in ways that support patient autonomy. For instance, faith can guide providers in advocating for ethical care practices while respecting legal and institutional guidelines (?artolovni et al., 2021). On the other hand, it may even aid providers in a more attuned approach to spiritual care as part of holistic health, fostering cultural humility and greater inclusivity. Similarly, in allied health care, collaboration with multidisciplinary teams has been a key, faith-informed care needs to be emphasized for mutual respect, which can foster trust and shared decision-making. Overall, faith can be a powerful, positive influence when it has been expressed as a commitment to care, equity, and the dignity of all patients. References ?artolovni, A., Stolt, M., Scott, P. A., & Suhonen, R. (2021). Moral injury in healthcare professionals: A scoping review and discussion. Nursing ethics, 28(5), 590-602. Elnakib, S., Elaraby, S., Othman, F., BaSaleem, H., AlShawafi, N. A. A., Al-Gawfi, I. A. S., ... & Tappis, H. (2021). Providing care under extreme adversity: the impact of the Yemen conflict on the personal and professional lives of health workers. Social science & medicine, 272, 113751. Puchalski, C. M., Lunsford, B., Harris, M. H., & Miller, R. T. (2006). Interdisciplinary spiritual care for seriously ill and dying patients: a collaborative model. The Cancer Journal, 12(5), 398-416.More Articles From Health