A Caring Presence


Book Description

"Rabbi Simeon Schreiber is the founder, director, and lead chaplain of Visiting Chaplain Services, Inc., a not-for-profit agency providing comfort and support to anyone in spiritual or emotional distress. He currently serves as Senior Staff Chaplain at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, Florida, and is the first (ever) chaplain of the Bal Harbour Police Department. He has lectured extensively "Guidelines for Bikur Cholim Visitation," as well as on the protocols for visiting those who are sitting Shiva. He is the author of a well-received pamphlet, The Shiva Call - A Guide to Comfort the Visitor and the Mourner."




The Presence of Caring in Nursing


Book Description




Spiritual Care at the End of Life


Book Description

This book examines the services that chaplains provide to dying patients and the unique relationship that palliative care staff construct with people at the end of life. It explores the nature of hope when faced with the inevitable and develops a theory of spiritual care rooted in relationship that has implications for all healthcare professionals.




Parenting with Presence


Book Description

Our children can be our greatest teachers. Parenting expert Susan Stiffelman writes that the very behaviors that push our buttons — refusing to cooperate or ignoring our requests — can help us build awareness and shed old patterns, allowing us to raise our children with greater ease and enjoyment. Filled with practical advice, powerful exercises, and fascinating stories from her clinical work, Parenting with Presence teaches us how to become the parents we most want to be while raising confident, caring children. “Shows parents how they can transform parenting into a spiritual practice.” — Eckhart Tolle, author of The Power of Now “Clear, wise, soulful, and poetic.” — Alanis Morissette




Patient Safety and Quality


Book Description

"Nurses play a vital role in improving the safety and quality of patient car -- not only in the hospital or ambulatory treatment facility, but also of community-based care and the care performed by family members. Nurses need know what proven techniques and interventions they can use to enhance patient outcomes. To address this need, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), with additional funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, has prepared this comprehensive, 1,400-page, handbook for nurses on patient safety and quality -- Patient Safety and Quality: An Evidence-Based Handbook for Nurses. (AHRQ Publication No. 08-0043)." - online AHRQ blurb, http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nurseshdbk/




The Art of Being a Healing Presence


Book Description

Jim Miller teamed with hospice chaplain Susan Cutshall to create a book about how to be with others in a way that's compassionate, nurturing, healing, and potentially even transforming. The foundational ideas are laid out in 15 short chapters: "There's only one place to begin-with yourself." "Healing presence is most effective when it's least active." Whole pages of engaging quotations and artistic drawings are interwoven with insightful observations and practical suggestions. Ideal for both professional and lay caregivers




Being with Dying


Book Description

Inspiring teachings, personal stories, and meditations for those near death and their caregivers, by a respected Zen teacher who has worked with the dying for over 30 years. Everyone who lives must inevitably face death. Inspired by traditional Buddhist teachings and decades of work with the dying and their caregivers, this landmark work on death and dying by beloved Buddhist teacher Joan Halifax is a source of wisdom for all those who are charged with a dying person’s care, facing their own death, or wishing to explore and contemplate the transformative power of the dying process. Relevant and powerful for people of all backgrounds, her teachings affirm that all of us can open and contact our inner strength even in the face of death, and that we can help others who are suffering to do the same. Halifax observes that millions will have to deal with the loss of parents and loved ones and that we are largely unprepared emotionally for their deaths. She presents the notion that the process of dying is a rite of passage. Halifax offers stories from her personal experience as well as guided exercises and contemplations to help readers contemplate death without fear, develop a commitment to helping others, and transform suffering and resistance into courage. Topics and exercises include: Learning to see death as a rite of passage The guiding principles of bearing witness and how self-awareness can help us to relate more fully with others How to take care of ourselves when we’re taking care of others Contemplation on the universality of death How to transform pain and fear with lovingkindness And much more Coupled with a new foreword by Frank Ostaseski, a leader in the field of death and dying palliative care, the guidance and experiences represented in Being with Dying are invaluable in supporting and instilling peace as the journey of life unfolds and inevitably reaches not only an end, but also a new beginning.




Families Caring for an Aging America


Book Description

Family caregiving affects millions of Americans every day, in all walks of life. At least 17.7 million individuals in the United States are caregivers of an older adult with a health or functional limitation. The nation's family caregivers provide the lion's share of long-term care for our older adult population. They are also central to older adults' access to and receipt of health care and community-based social services. Yet the need to recognize and support caregivers is among the least appreciated challenges facing the aging U.S. population. Families Caring for an Aging America examines the prevalence and nature of family caregiving of older adults and the available evidence on the effectiveness of programs, supports, and other interventions designed to support family caregivers. This report also assesses and recommends policies to address the needs of family caregivers and to minimize the barriers that they encounter in trying to meet the needs of older adults.




Caring Science, Mindful Practice


Book Description

"Caring Science, Mindful Practice offers unique and practical project examples that nurses will consider for their practice or educational settings. With its integration of Watson's caring science and mindfulness principles, Sitzman and Watson have extended knowledge of Watson's caring science and caritas processes through integrating Thich Nhat Hahn's mindfulness perspective and practices. The book offers rich examples of nursing projects that may broaden nursing care for greater patient and student satisfaction and assist nurses with holistic self-care." -- Gale Robinson-Smith, PhD, RN is Associate Professor, College of Nursing, Villanova University, International Journal for Human Caring "This book provides wonderful tools for nurses to use in practice, education, or even for self-care. Designed for any nurse, new or experienced, who wishes to learn more about applying Jean Watson's Human Caring Theory to practice, it supplies the meaning behind the importance of having a practice based on mindfulness....[It] is a practical, easy-to-read book for all nursing audiences and could be used at any educational level."--Doody's Medical Reviews ìSitzman and Watsons' book is an invaluable resourceÖ The strength of this book is its simplicity on one level yet its complexity as the reader works throughout the layers incorporated within the book.î--Nursing Times This is the first text to help students and practicing nurses translate and integrate the philosophy and abstracts of Caring theory into everyday practice. It was developed for use as the primary text for an online caring theory course that will be offered through the Watson Caring Science Institute in October 2013. Through case examples and guiding activities, the book helps students and practitioners to more fully comprehend the meaning and use of each Caritas Process. It draws upon the contemplative and mindfulness teaching of Thich Nhat Hahn, a renowned Buddhist monk, poet, author, teacher, and peace activist. Each of the ten Caritas Processes are clearly presented by the author and accompanied by guided mindfulness and artistic practices to support learning and absorption of the method. These artistic practices include the use of images, art, metaphors, and expressive symbols that are designed to promote meaningful introspection and self-awarenessóthe underpinnings of genuine Caritas practice. The book reflects several years of teaching by the author, who has been invited by several large health care institutions (including Kaiser-Permanente) to provide training based on her materials. Key Features: Helps students and practitioners to integrate the philosophy and abstracts of Caring theory into clinical practice Offers case studies and guided activities to reinforce content Draws upon the contemplative and mindfulness teachings of Thich Nhat Hahn Includes concrete guided mindfulness and artistic practices for each of the ten Caritas Processes Designed for a wide audience including undergraduate, graduate and international nursing students




Full Body Presence


Book Description

Many teachers stress the importance of living in the present moment. Few give the actual practices to make it attainable. This book teaches you how to return to the incredible navigational system of the body and more fully inhabit each moment. For over twenty-five years, Suzanne Scurlock-Durana has masterfully taught her step-by-step practice of present moment awareness through her own combination of bodywork and CranioSacral therapy. The practices of Full Body Presence help you find a deeper awareness in the moment, even in the midst of chaos, family and work demands, or the pressure to perform. This deeper awareness also brings a fuller sense of trust and confidence in yourself and in the world. Full Body Presence is filled with concrete, life-friendly explorations and instruction clearly presented in both the book and the free accompanying downloadable audio files.