This HBCU Nursing Program Embraces Faith as Part of Care

By Rev. Dorothy S. Boulware | Word In BlackJoan Tilghman, the new dean of Coppin State University’s school of nursing believes faith and healing are intertwined. Credit: Coppin State UniversityOverview: Faith-based nursing is a movement within the profession that seeks to understand a patient’s sperituality and use it as the basis for healing, a philosophy Tilghman will incoporate at Coppin State University.(WIB) – Everyone recognizes qualitative nursing when they experience it, especially since it’s often during the most troubled seasons of life: a debilitating illness, a medical emergency or an extended hospital stay. Healing, experts say, is more effective when the caregiver understands the whole person — including their faith or spirituality.That often-overlooked aspect of medicine is even enshrined in the American Nurses Code of Ethics. Nurses, it says, provide optimal care by enabling patients “to live with as much physical, emotional, social and religious or spiritual well-being as possible” and providing care that “reflects the patient’s own values.”Joan Sylvia Tilghman, the new dean of the College of Health Professions at Coppin State University, a historically Black college in Baltimore, is making that philosophy a cornerstone of her tenure. She believes that, in the healthcare client-provider relationship, faith should be...