The Dilemmas of Spirituality in the Caring Professions: Care-Provider Spiritual Orientation and the Communication of Care

Abstract

An analysis of 19 care-provider interviews demonstrates four different orientations toward spirituality: exclusive spirituality, inclusive spirituality, conflicted spirituality, and spirituality as separate from care. Two prominent ethical dilemmas experienced by care providers are discussed. Care providers face an internal dilemma presented by competing discourses that suggest different ways to incorporate spirituality into care. Care providers also face an interactional dilemma as they seek to balance their own spiritual needs with the needs of care recipients.

Jennifer would like to thank Dr. Kathy Miller for her suggestions on this article.

Notes

This and all other proper names in the paper are pseudonyms used to protect the identity of the participants.

The decision to capitalize all references to “God” stemmed from participant feedback provided through member checking. Many participants believed that God and other terms used to reference God should be capitalized to indicate appropriate respect, and I have chosen to honor their request in this article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jennifer R. Considine

Jennifer R. Considine is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Montana. Her research interests include: spirituality and emotion in organizations, workplace religious discrimination, feminist approaches to the study of organizations, and interfaith dialogue.