Cancer Fighters Thrive is a quarterly print and online magazine bringing readers practical, innovative and inspirational information about cancer treatment and survivorship.
Issue link: http://cancerfightersthrive.epubxp.com/i/197379
SPIRITUAL AT SUNDOWN, SPIRITS Night-shi oncology nurses beneft from spiritual support. By Diana Price Photos by Eric Green Photos by Eric Green If you have ever spent the night in a hospital, you know that there is a distinct shift in the energy of the place when the sun goes down. The noise and the shuffe of the day subsides—visitors head home and take the business of the outside world with them; regular visits with physicians are replaced by intermittent monitoring by night staff; sleep can be disrupted; anxieties and deeper emotional issues can rise to the surface. Meanwhile the physical needs and concerns of patients present in daylight hours continue their course, paying no heed to any schedule or rhythm. It is a time that can be simultaneously subdued and intense for patients and those who care for them. It is in this environment that oncology nurses who work the night shift spend time engaged with their patients and their patients' families, not only attending to physical needs but also, often, offering critical spiritual and emotional support. At Cancer Treatment Centers 36 cancer fighters thrive | winter 2013 of America® (CTCA) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Supervisor of Pastoral Care Reverend Wendell Scanterbury says that nurses who work this shift operate in a unique environment. "At night, nurses can be much more exposed to the personal lives of their patients and often have more time to interact with them," he says. "They get to know them up close and personal—they hear about their homes and their children, what was going on before cancer, what other struggles they are dealing with, about their joys and anxieties." It is natural in this intimate environment, he says, for nurses to develop close relationships with patients and relate on a personal level. Verna Carson, PhD, CNSPMH-BC, is an advanced-practice, board-certifed clinical nurse specialist in psychiatric/ mental health nursing and co-author of several books on the role of spirituality in nursing, including Spiritual Caregiving: Healthcare as a Ministry and Spiritual Dimensions of Nursing Practice. Carson says that the deep connections that develop between oncology nurses and their patients in this setting allow nurses to provide critical emotional support, but they can also take an emotional toll. "Oncology nurses deal with emotional, physical and spiritual pain in both patients and families," she says. "This role means they have the privilege of sharing in the anticipation and the excitement when treatment works as well, but it also means sharing in the despair and the disappointment that occurs when research and medications fail to produce the desired result." As they repeatedly accompany patients and families through these experiences, Dr. Carson says, oncology nurses are at risk of experiencing fatigue and burnout if they don't take care to process their own emotions and engage in spiritual self-care. By seeking spiritual support themselves, nurses bolster their spiritual foundation and are able to gain perspective on the intense work they do, allowing them to fnd meaning in their work and continue cfthrive.com