The Spiritual

1
The Spiritual Religious Roots of Nursing and
Chaplaincy

• Tom Keighley
• Chaplain - St Josephs Hospice

2
The Problem with History!

• Whose account of the story?
• Which events or datum should be included?
• What time frame should be chosen?
• What type of analysis should be applied?
• Etc

3
Beginning at the Beginning
4
500BC
5
The British Experience
6
The Hospitallers
7
Miss Nightingale Friends
8
Hospital Reform

• Compulsory church services in Poor Law
  institutions
• London Teaching Hospitals began to appoint their
  own chaplains
• 1946 NHS Act makes Chaplains NHS employees
• 1960 first guides to chaplaincy published
• 1992 - College of healthcare chaplains formed
• 1997 first national multi-faith working group
• 1999 over 400 full-time chaplains and over 5000
  spiritual support givers in UK

9
Theodicy

•  "Essais de Théodicée sur la bonte de Dieu, la
  liberté de l'homme et l'origine du mal".
• Leibniz 1710 (The Justice of God)
• A struggle to understand why a good and
  omnipotent God allows the existence of evil
• Where did we come from, what are we doing here,
  where are we going? Bonaventure

10
Interrelations

• Historically chaplaincy for patients to address
  the questions of theodicy
• Henderson onwards includes assessment of
  patients spiritual needs
• Helen Orchards Study suggests chaplains spend
  upward to 60 of their time with staff
• In a superficially secular world, there seems to
  be an increased need for spiritual experts

11
Modern World
12
Individual Community

• Traditional assumptions are gone
• Individuals are capable of being better informed
  about health care
• Individuals are less well informed about faith
  traditions and spirituality
• Quality of research about faith and health
• Demand for chaplaincy has never been higher!
• Demand for healthcare has never been higher
• Quo vadis?