They take care of your cancer, but what about your soul?
A presentation by Johns Hopkins School of Nursing Associate Dean Anne B. Belcher confronted these questions at the American Psychosocial Oncology Society?s Annual Conference this month in Austin, Texas, in her seminar titled “Spiritual Expression and Spiritual Care: A Comparison of Oncology and Non-Oncology Nurses.”
According to nursing surveys, she said, “oncology nurses are still often as reluctant as their non-oncology counterparts to initiate spiritual assessment and care, in spite of an increasing emphasis in oncology nursing education and publications on spiritual care.”
