Healing Hospital: A Daring Paradigm

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Introduction

            There is a crucial theme that is drastically emerging in most of the healthcare setting mainly involving a Healing Hospital.  This provides a situation whereby patients and families usually feel less stressed at healthcare facilities since know dedicated employees are taking care of them.   Therefore, the focus is mainly on the patient and their care; whereas not the disease.   Therefore, the patient is assured that hospital encounters will be part of loving service as well as competent clinical care.  Thus, according to Chapman (2011) A Healing Hospital is actually the aspect of serving others. However, the healing paradigm consists of all aspects of an individual; mental, physical, and spiritual. Moreover, as a part of the healing hospital paradigm, it is necessary to address the family’s emotional, cognitive and spiritual concerns which is crucial in helping with coping.  Apparently, care is supposed to go beyond the physical aspect thereby involving a holistic approach (Burkhadt, 2010).

Additionally, a Healing Hospital can be regarded as a concept in which a continuous process of providing loving care takes place throughout the healthcare setting with skill and kindness from all the caregivers leaders included to all the patients as well as to each other (Chapman, 2011). Therefore, this environment of loving and caring service ensures incorporation of loving care as well as clinical care in a vision that is new and exciting towards clinical excellence. Moreover,  it doesn’t despise modern technology, however, true excellence is usually built on most significant principle of loving service and care to human (O’Brien, 2010).

Moreover, a healing hospital is actually based on the ancient tradition and believe that love is found at the healing center. However, within this framework, the Golden Thread which symbolizes our faith in God needs striking of a balance among the most recent and advanced scientific advancements together with the needs of the human spirit. In addition, the healthcare providers are required to take of all  these considerations. Thus, in order for a hospital to be  truly healing, then the continuity of  Golden Thread must be adhered to, since it is the Golden Thread which connects both the patients and healers (Burkhadt, 2010).

The key components of a Healing Hospital

            However, the concept of a Healing Hospital embraces various components. Thus, the “healing hospital” as it is discussed by Erie Chapman in the Radical Loving Care does not just consist of walls, windows as well as the mortar but also involves the culture of caring and love (Chapman, 2011).   Therefore, there are three fundamental components of the Healing Hospital such as a healing physical environment, also the integrating of work design as well as technology and finally the Radical Loving Care culture (Chapman, 2011).

For instance, the concept of a healing physical environment does not only take into consideration the care for patients, but also the way in which the healthcare staff usually engage with their families as caregivers. Thus, by the creation of a loving, compassionate, as well as an environment that is aesthetically pleasing it therefore possible to help patients as well as their families to cope with illness and stress (Burkhadt, 2010). The second component of the Healing Hospital which is the integration of work design together with technology facilitates the staff at healthcare centers to work more efficiently and effectively while at the same time providing additional security  and privacy the patients. Also, with the utilization the most advanced and recent technology assists in providing an environment  crucial for healing.

The third  component and the most vital is embracing a Radical Loving Care culture, which is the philosophy strongly advocated by Erie Chapman a healthcare industry leader. However, the embracing of this philosophy, in healthcare settings leads to the development of a culture of compassionate care, while at  the same time reminding the healthcare workers of their crucial role in the healthcare setting (Chapman, 2011). This therefore promotes the patient’s healing through a holistic approach ensuring that not only the patient’s physical needs  are met but also the emotional and spiritual needs (O’Brien, 2010).

Moreover, both healing and spirituality are so much related  with the components of  a Healing Hospital hence they should be prioritized at each patient’s stay in the hospital. However,  considering many hospitals managements, they have become money hungry and their main worry is financial  challenges while quality and  safety ranks low down the list. However, spirituality as well as loving care rarely make the list in many healthcare facilities (Chapman, 2011).

Additionally, the hospitals are required to be more than mere places involved in physical care but also include loving care and spirituality (Chapman, 2011). This is mainly because spirituality has for a long time now been shown to positively affect  health potential of someone since the spirit, the mind as well as the body all of them works as one entity. Therefore spirituality is a crucial part of the life of everyone. This therefore implies that spiritual care is no longer a matter of choice, but a crucial part of the professional mandate that must  be  adhered to in the nursing profession as well as the regulating organizations. Therefore, the American Nurses association, The International Code of Ethics as well as other organizations usually mandate the inclusion of the  spiritual care in the patient’s care initial assessment planning (O’Brien, 2010).

Challenges of creating a Healing Hospital

            The creating of a healing environment usually involve numerous challenges, thus overcoming the barriers presented by such challenges is very essential towards the growing of a Healing Hospital.  This is mainly because a Healing Hospital is not merely built with mortar and bricks but it is composed of three distinct qualities; that is, a strong commitment to effective leadership, structures and systems as well as teaching through inquiry and dialogue (O’Brien, 2010). However, the major challenge of  attaining this situation is the absence of willingness of some healthcare providers to embrace  the aspects of a Healing Hospital establishment.  In addition,  a Healing Hospital embraces compassionate care as well as respect  for emotional, physical  and spiritual needs of the patients which fosters the fostering healing and wholeness (Chapman, 2011).  Achieving this is however, a challenge since it involves all the healthcare staff and it would take some time to ensure that they are all on board.  Additionally, there are some biblical scriptures supporting the concept of love, compassion, and faith as crucial cornerstones to healthcare provision. For instance, we learn in the Old Testament from Genesis Scriptures the value of life. Thus, in the Book of Genesis (Genesis 1:26), God man in His own image and likeness and instilled to him the breath of life. Also, in the New Testament the Book of John 10:11, shows the compassionate care and love which we should have since a good shepherd devotes his life for the sheep, where  the sheep can be regarded as the patient and the shepherd is the healthcare providers.

Conclusion

            The Healing Hospital is actually one of the most crucial theme that has emerged in the healthcare settings whereby it is involved in ensuring that there is provision of compassionate and loving care to the patients and their families. Thus, it also prioritizes the emotional and spiritual care in addition to the physical one which fosters quick recovery of patients.

References

Burkhadt, M.A. (2010). Ethics and issues in contemporary nursing (3^rd ed.). Clifton Park, NY: Delmar Cengage Learning.

Chapman, E. (2011). Radical loving care: Building the healing hospital in America. Nashville, TN: Eric Chapman Foundation.

O’Brien, M.E. (2010). Spirituality in nursing: Standing on holy ground (4^th ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.