Abstract

RODRIGUES GOMES, Ana Margarida. La espiritualidad ante la proximidad de la muerte.... Enferm. glob. [online]. 2011, vol.10, n.22. ISSN 1695-6141.

At the end of life the human being enters a period of dissonance where there is important physical, mental and spiritual suffering. The last of these may be just as disturbing as the first, and at times even less bearable. Spiritual suffering arrives because of a loss of the meaning and the sense of life, a loss of hope, and it manifests itself through spiritual pain. Because we need some meaning in life, at the same time we give some meaning to facing up to death. Spirituality is the important tool we use in the last stage of life and, according to some authors, this is because it favours the capacity of the human being to rise to transcendency as a way of overcoming or mitigating suffering and spiritual pain. The questions asked in this sphere are infinite. Can spiritual suffering be minimized? What is our role as care givers? Such questions are posed in the awareness that the terminally ill person, beyond needs, is calling for integral attention in the search for his or her equilibrium and the minimization of hs or her suffering , through the satisfaction of their social, physical, emotional and, above all, spiritual needs. This article seeks to put forward reflections that put the need for spiritual care into words, along with the possible implications of spiritual support as life draws to its close.

Keywords : Spirituality; Death; Pain.

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