Weaving the Fabric of Spirituality as Experienced by Patients who have Undergone a Coronary Bypass Surgery

Abstract

When one is faced with a life-threatening event, spiritual issues become extremely important. The depth of one person’s suffering is a unique experience. The relationship that developed between the interpretation of the answers of the coronary artery bypass patients and self-interpretation were the two directions in which this hermeneutic research moved forward within the hermeneutic circle. Central implications of the concept of spirituality emerging from this study are spirituality as meaning through gaining a new appreciation of life and health, spirituality as an inner strength through love and faith and in an ontological sense, spirituality as an inner strength through suffering and desire. Suffering invites one into the spiritual domain. Indeed, this concept raises important considerations for the development of caring knowledge about spirituality.