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Ethical Issues in Anesthesiology and Surgery pp 185–198Cite as

End-of-Life Issues: Spirituality

Abstract

There is an increasing emphasis in medicine for healthcare providers to treat the whole patient. Whole patient care includes the physical, psychosocial and spiritual care of the patient. Contemporary medicine has focused on the physical illnesses of the patient, creating a large armamentarium of tools to combat disease processes. In addition, addressing the spiritual needs of critically ill patients is an important part of intensive care, particularly when the patients are dying in the hospital. This chapter will describe some differences between spirituality and religiosity, suggest some self-education tactics for physicians interested in expanding their understanding of spirituality and discuss approaches to some common requests of a spiritual nature in the intensive care unit (ICU).

Keywords

  • End-of-Life
  • Spirituality
  • Religion
  • Ethics
  • Prayer

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  • DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-15949-2_15
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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities, Medical College of Wisconsin, 8701 Watertown Plank Road, Milwaukee, WI, 53226, USA

    Cynthiane J. Morgenweck MD, MA

Authors
  1. Cynthiane J. Morgenweck MD, MA
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Correspondence to Cynthiane J. Morgenweck MD, MA .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Anesthesiology, The University of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences System, Chicago, Illinois, USA

    Barbara G. Jericho

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Morgenweck, C.J. (2015). End-of-Life Issues: Spirituality. In: Jericho, B. (eds) Ethical Issues in Anesthesiology and Surgery. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15949-2_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15949-2_15

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