Critical Care

Steve Nolan, Ph.D., is a palliative care chaplain at Princess Alice Hospice, Surrey, UK, where he works daily with people who are dying, supporting them and their families. He regularly teaches spiritual care to students visiting the hospice and is a tutor on the MTh in Chaplaincy Studies at St. Michael's College, Llandaff, part of Cardiff University.

The development of meaning and practice in spiritual and pastoral care in hospital chaplaincy has applications both to the healthcare system and beyond. This book makes a great contribution to that development. Three eminent thinkers in this area provide the context and connections, and several practitioners provide the reflection on practice - bridging the gaps between theory, values and practice; theological reflection and reflective practice; and spirituality and the practice of healthcare. Don't just view this book as relevant to the profession of hospital chaplaincy (significant though its contribution to that is), view it as a major contribution to the profession of care in any context.

• Preface. Part 1. Constructing Spiritual Care. 1.1. The narrative of spiritual care: Locating models of spiritual care within contemporary healthcare education and practice. Jonathan H. Pye. 1.2. Discourses of Spiritual Health Care. Hamish Ferguson-Stuart. 1.3. Making Use of Models of Healthcare Chaplaincy. Stephen Flatt. 1.4. Biblical texts, chaplaincy and mental health service users. Anne McCormick. Part 2. Negotiating Spiritual Care in Public. 2.1. The value of spiritual care: Negotiating spaces and practices for spiritual care in the public domain. Andrew Todd. 2.2. Legal and policy frameworks for spiritual care. Layla Welford. 2.3. From atheist to Zoroastrians: What are the implications for professional healthcare chaplaincy of the requirement to provide spiritual care to people of all faiths and none? Mirabai Galashan. 2.4. Developing a Model of Chaplaincy through the Translation of Nursing Theory. Debbie Hodge. Part 3. Researching Spiritual Care. 3.1. Making spiritual care visible: The developing agenda and methodologies for research in spiritual care. Steve Nolan. 3.2. Researching spiritual care in a mental health context. Julian Raffay. 3.3. How secular is the NHS? The significance of volunteers and their beliefs. Karen MacKinnon. 3.4. Observing, recording and analysing spiritual care in an acute setting. Rodney Baxendale. Part 4. Critical Issues in Spiritual Care. 4.1. The practice of spiritual care in the context of suffering: Questions for the self as a 'spiritual being'. Peter Sedgwick. 4.2. Assisted suicide: A dignified end to severe and enduring mental illness? Charles Thody. 4.3. Insights into spiritual need and care arising out of the experience of those living with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). Richard Wharton. 4.4. 'A hidden wholeness': Spiritual care in a children's hospice. Mark Clayton. Bibliography.