Conference stresses need of spirituality in hospital care

There was a conference yesterday in UCD titled Spiritual Care Nursing Education to Embrace New Challenges in a Moving World.

The day-long conference heard from academics and practioners the need for spiritual care for the sick.

Professor John Wells noted how large scale pandemics are civilisation changing events. He said 2022 is a watershed year.

He pointed out how the Spanish flu, which took the lives of 120 million people in three years, caused a seismic change in world events.

At present there are 82 million refugees worldwide.

Wells said on current trends in 340 years there will be no mammals left and in 500 years all other life will be extinct.

It was interesting that there was only one Catholic priest present at a conference on hospital chaplaincy and spirituality.