Book Review

Edited by Dean Whitehead

What Do I Say? Talking with Patientsabout Spirituality by Elizabeth JohnstonTaylor 2007. Templeton FoundationsPress, London, UK. ISBN 9781599471204. 151 pp. £13Æ59.

This workbook is a welcome editionagainst the rising tide of criticisms ofspirituality in nursing for being roman-ticised and non-interrogated. Althoughthere appears to be a plethora of liter-ature on the theories and abstractionson spirituality in nursing and healthcare, the literature on the practicalitiesof responding to patients’ spirituality issomewhat scant. I remember in my earlyclinical years that I was adept atresponding to the technical aspects ofnursing and health care, but far less sowhen patients wanted to talk about theirdeeper pain – and, in particular, issuesof spirituality and the essence of theirbeing; the one that gives them meaningand purpose for their very existence. Ioften did not know what to say whenpatients wanted to talk about spiritual-ity. If you have ever faced similarchallenges then this book serves as arepository of useful tips on what to saywhen talking with patients about spiri-tuality.

This book stands out among compet-ing discourses on spirituality as a work-book written in an accessible languagewith eight chapters. Chapter 1 sets theaim of the workbook and provides a

synopsis of what to expect in theworkbook. Chapter 2 entails a journeyinto the role of helper with regard tospirituality with several exercises. Chap-ter 3 sets out the rudiments of listeningskills with regard to spirituality, andchapter 4 enables the reader to makesense of what to hear when respondingto patients’ spirituality. Chapters 5 and6 provide valuable guidance on how torespond to spiritual pain. Chapter 7 hassome answers to frequently asked ques-tions and the final chapter puts it alltogether. Each chapter comprises vari-ous practical exercises that aim toappraise and develop one’s approachto spiritual care. It would advantage thereader to try out all the exercises whichrequire about 10 hours of study time.The exercises assist in raising awarenessand confirming personal effectivenessagainst spiritual care practices.

This book has mostly strengths but afew notable weaknesses too – althoughmost can be countered. For instance,some critics might point out that thisbook lacks details with regard to theo-retical foundations and abstractions onspirituality and that it simplifies spiritualcare by equating it with communicationskills. Those critics, however, could beproved wrong since there is sometimeselegance in simplicity. In this context,this book becomes an important re-source for those committed to inspirit-ing patients by simply following some of

the more rudimental principles of spiri-tual care. Also, some readers may findthat much of the text has a Judeo-Christian orientation – but the rudi-ments of approaches to spiritual careare transferable to secular and non-secular contexts. As a transcultural spir-ituality scholar and practitioner, I foundthe book invaluable because many of thestrategies on spiritual care are transfer-able without detriment to the uniquenessof spirituality in humanity. The materialtranscends spiritualities and cultures.

I would recommend this workbook tothose striving to be effective in spiritualcare. It complements other texts onspirituality in nursing and health care.It is one of the very few editions of itskind and has much to offer. This bookfills the current gap on the practicalitiesof spiritual care; that is, what to saywhen talking with patients about spiri-tuality.

Aru NarayanasamyAssociate Professor and National

Teaching FellowEthnicity, Diversity and Spirituality

(EDS) HubUniversity of Nottingham

Faculty of Medicine and Health SciencesSchool of Nursing, Midwifery and

PhysiotherapyNottingham

UK

� 2009 The Author. Journal compilation � 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Journal of Clinical Nursing, 18, 933 933

doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2702.2008.02646.x