How nurses preach and practice presence: Observations from a Program of Research

From her many years of experience as a nurse, a nurse educator and a nurse researcher professor Johnston Taylor will explore in this keynote lecture the essence of presence in the delivery spiritual care by nurses and midwives. In her contribution she will clarify based on research outcomes that spiritual care is an essential part of the evidence base of good nursing and midwifery care. From that evidence she will guide nursing and midwifery student nurses in the delivery of spiritual care in their practice.

Elizabeth Johnston Taylor, PhD, RN, FAAN, Professor, Loma Linda University School of Nursing, Loma Linda, California, USA, has pursued a program of research exploring the intersection of spirituality, religiosity, health, and nursing for 25 years.  Her clinical experiences as an oncology nurse created for her a deep interest in these topics, and led her to pursue a PhD (University of Pennsylvania 1992), a post-doctoral fellowship (UCLA, 1993-95), Clinical Pastoral Education, and training in spiritual direction. Her life experiences include a 4-year stint as Research Director, Mary Potter Hospice, Wellington, New Zealand. The desire to help nurses understand and support patient spiritual health during health-related transitions has motivated Beth to write dozens of articles and book chapters. Her books include Spiritual Care: Nursing Theory, Research, and Practice (Prentice Hall, 2002), What Do I Say? Talking with Patients about Spirituality (Templeton Press, 2007), and Religion: A Clinical Guide for Nurses (Springer, 2012). Her forthcoming book from Springer, Fast facts about religion: Implications for nursing care (June, 2019), will provide clinicians with quick and easy access to healthcare-related information about religions.