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Specific features of nursing care provided to members of the Church of Scientology.
MATOUŠKOVÁ, Eva
The Church of Scientology was officially registered in Los Angeles in 1954. It is present in more than 150 countries of the world, and is professed by over 8 million people. The founder of the movement is the American author of science fiction and fiction, Laffayete Ron Hubbard, who conducted research in the sphere of the human spirit, summarised in his books "Dianetics". Later on, he focused his research on spiritual beings and their abilities. This gave rise to an applicable religious philosophy - Scientology. It has not been possible to register the Church of Scientology officially in the Czech Republic so far, and therefore it acts as the civil association of "Dianetické centrum" (the Dianetic Centre). The number of its members and sympathisers in this country is not very high, reaching approximately 800 persons. Still, it is important for us to know the differences of this minority, to be able to provide its members with nursing care corresponding to their specific needs. This subject is dealt with by the multi-cultural nursing care studying cultures and religions from the point of view of nursing practice. In connection with globalisation, this subject becomes even more topical. The national, cultural and ethnic structure of the population undergoes gradual changes and the number of foreigners legally residing in the territory of the Czech Republic keeps growing. For this reason, it is important even for nurses to be prepared and have at least the minimum knowledge of multi-cultural / trans-cultural nursing care that will enable them to provide adequate nursing care respecting the specifics in question. The objective of my thesis is to get to know the specific features of nursing care provided to members of the Church of Scientology and to establish the specific features of their life style. To meet the objectives, I set five research questions. Research question 1: Do members of the Church of Scientology have specific needs when they are being provided nursing care? Research question 2: What is the attitude of members of the Church of Scientology to the health care provided in the Czech Republic? Research question 3: Do members of the Church of Scientology have specific spiritual needs? Research question 4: What attitude do members of the Church of Scientology have towards their health? Research question 5: Do members of the Church of Scientology have a specific life style? To collect data for fulfilling my research objectives and obtaining answers to the research questions, I applied the method of qualitative research. To conduct the qualitative research I used the technique of a semi-structured interview with the members of the Church of Scientology attending the Dianetic Centre in Prague. The interview contained altogether 46 questions divided into four areas, and the participants were four men and four women of different ages and different lengths of being members of the Church. The qualitative examination established the main and most distinct specific feature in providing nursing care to members of the Church of Scientology, which is maintaining silence at the time when human mind is weakened. Further, the research showed that scientologists respect physicians and do not exclude them in cases of accidents or danger of life. They normally undergo preventive examinations and do not object to being vaccinated provided that they are supplied with sufficient information. The only exception is psychiatry. Being provided with assists constitutes the only spiritual need, and the Church of Scientology has no specifics in terms of diet. This thesis may be used as a study material for general nurses and students of nursing studies, to expand knowledge in the field of multi-cultural / trans-cultural nursing care, which will facilitate providing culture-specific nursing care to members of this religious minority.
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