Spiritual issues in surgical palliative care.

The key points of this article are: Spirituality gives meaning and purpose to life. Spiritual issues that may lie dormant for many years often surface at the end of life. Not all people are religious, but all are spiritual. Suffering affects the whole person and often is connected to the meaning that a patient associates with a symptom or symptoms. Spiritual history validates the importance of a patient's spirituality and gives permission to the patient for future discussion/questions. Spiritual care is the job of all members of the interdisciplinary team(including surgeons), not just chaplains. It is critical to be open to spiritual discussions/issues as they arise while seeking the assistance of professional pastoral care staff where appropriate. Redefining hope: hospice can help the dying patient to redefine hope in terms of realistic goals-from a hope for cure to a hope for good symptom relief. Reconciliation is the work of the dying. Empathy is the opportunity for those who care for the dying.