Spirituality: its Dynamics and Purpose in Nursing a Person With a New Diagnosis of Cancer

Abstract

At its most fundamental, a diagnosis of cancer threatens human life — unchallenged it will lead to death of the organism. Beyond this threat to the physical domain there is a commensurate violation of those borders that help an individual experience constancy, buoyancy and security. This is because, despite notable advances in treatments, therapies and survival rates, the popular psyche still views a diagnosis of cancer as a prelude to dying and death. Given this notoriety, there is little surprise that a diagnosis of cancer shakes individuals to the heart of their existential core (Weisman and Worden, 1976). This most fundamental human response is mirrored in classical and contemporary literature that describes death and dying in various ways: the end of an organism (Jasper, 1932), obscene, unmentionable, pornography — a nasty mistake (May, 1969), a crisis (Abiven, 1995), a period of suffering (Salt, 1997).