Is spiritual care impacted by joy?

摘要

A few years ago our local Nurses Christian Fellowship group wanted to sponsor a continuing education workshop. We sent out a list of suggested topics, and the overwhelming choice was "Rediscovering the Joy in Nursing." This was a sign to me that joy might be a need in nursing, both personally and professionally. I have been reading the exhortation of Pope Francis on the "Joy of the Gospel." Many of his comments line up with nursing. He mentions that an evangelizer (nurse) must never look like someone who has just come back from a funeral! "Let us recover and deepen our enthusiasm and delightful and comforting joy even when it is in tears that we must sow" (Exhortation of the Holy Father Francis, 2013, p. 58).