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Addressing children's beliefs through Fowler's stages of faith

Michelle E Neuman1

  • 1neumanml@email.uc.edu

Journal of Pediatric Nursing
|January 25, 2011
PubMed

Insights

Pediatric nurses need to assess children's spiritual needs using faith development knowledge. This ensures holistic care by addressing religious beliefs and integrating developmental stages for appropriate interventions.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Nursing
  • Child Development
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Faith Development Theory

Background:

  • Holistic child care necessitates understanding spiritual and faith development.
  • Pediatric nurses and nurse practitioners may lack preparedness in addressing children's spiritual needs developmentally.
  • Assessing religious and spiritual beliefs is crucial for comprehensive pediatric care.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To highlight the importance of assessing pediatric spiritual and religious beliefs.
  • To guide nurses on when and how to intervene regarding children's spiritual needs.
  • To present a model for integrating child development knowledge with faith development theory for pediatric nursing practice.

Main Methods:

  • Review of literature on child development and faith development.
  • Application of James Fowler's stages of faith development.
  • Development of a framework for pediatric nurses to assess and address spiritual needs.

Main Results:

  • Nurses require specific knowledge to provide developmentally appropriate spiritual care.
  • Fowler's theory offers a structured approach to understanding faith progression in children and adolescents.
  • A combined approach of developmental knowledge and faith theory enables effective spiritual care interventions.

Conclusions:

  • Integrating child development and faith development theories enhances pediatric nurses' ability to meet children's spiritual needs.
  • Nurses can provide more effective and holistic care by assessing and addressing spiritual beliefs.
  • Further education and resources are needed to equip nurses for spiritual care in pediatrics.

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