Basic Nursing 1st Edition by Judith Wilkinson, Leslie Treas

Exercise 3

Consider the results and/or conclusions from the following studies.
Westlake, C., Dracup, K. (2001). Role of spirituality in adjustment of patients with advanced heart failure. Progress in Cardiovascular Nursing, 16(3), 119-125.
Patients described a process wherein spirituality contributed to their adjustment to advanced heart failure. The process involved regret over past behaviors, the search for meaning in the illness, and the search for hope for the future.
Thomson, J. E. (2000).The place of spiritual well-being in hospice patients' overall quality of life. Hospital Journal, 15(2),13-27.
This study found spiritual well-being to be an important contributor to overall quality of life for hospice patients.
Beery,T., Baas, L., Fowler, C., Allen G. (2002). Spirituality in!II persons with heart failure. journal of Holistic Nursing, 20(1), 5-25.
The combined spirituality scores predicted 24% of the variance in total quality of life for people with heart failure being treated medically or via transplant.
Tuck, I., McCain, N., Elswick, R. (2001). Spirituality and lil psychosocial factors in persons living with HIV. journal of Advanced Nursing 33(6), 776-783.
Studying patients with HIV, researchers found spirituality (as measured by a subscale called "existential well-being") was positively related to the patients' quality of life, social support, and effective coping strategies. It was negatively related to perceived stress, uncertainty, psychological distress, and emotional-focused coping.
Bradley, D. (1995). Religious involvement and social resources: Evidence from the data set "Americans' Changing Lives:' journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 34(2), 259-267. (Abstract obtained from International Center for the Integration of Health and Spirituality.)
This research found that frequent attendance at religious services was strongly associated with the extent of a person's social support network.
Touhy, T. A. (2001). Nurturing hope and spirituality in the nursing home. Holistic Nursing Practice, 15(4), 45-56.
This study found that spirituality was the only factor of those studied that contributed significantly to hope in institutionalized elders.
Oxman,T., Freeman, D., Mannheimer, E. (1995). Lack of social participation or religious strength or comfort as risk factors for death after cardiac surgery in the elderly. Psychosomatic Medicine, 57, 5-15. (Abstract obtained from International Center for the Integration of Health and Spirituality.)
Researchers found that religious faith was the most consistent indicator of survival after heart surgery in older patients. Those without religious faith had almost three times the risk of death; moreover; the more religious the patient, the greater the protective effect the study found.
Koenig, H. G., et al. (1998).The relationship between religious !! activities and blood pressure in older adults. International journal of Psychology in Medicine, 28(2), 189-213.
This study found that older adults who both attended religious services at least once a week and prayed or studied the Bible at least daily had consistently lower blood pressure. The study also found that people who tuned in to religious TV or radio shows regularly actually had higher blood pressure than those who were less frequent viewers or listeners.
For which of the following do these studies, taken as a whole, provide the stronger support? Explain your reasoning.
a. Spirituality has a positive effect on physical factors.
b. Spirituality has a positive effect on psychosocial or emotional factors.