On October 30, 2002 Xi Chapter hosted the Annual Fall Scholarly program in collaboration with Nu Eta Chapter at MCP Hahneman University School of Nursing. The distinguished speaker was Anne Belcher, PhD, RN, AOCN, FAAN from the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing in Baltimore, Maryland where she is the Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. Dr. Belcher has also been an extremely active member of Sigma Theta Tau, serving as the president of the Beta Pi and Alpha Zeta chapters and holding officer positions as vice president, treasurer, graduate counselor, and as a member of the National bylaws committee. Dr. Belcher is also widely known for her warmth and sense of humor.

    Dr. Belcher's gave an informative and inspiring talk on "Spiritual Care of Persons with HIV/AIDS and Cancer." She has devoted much of her work to exploring humor and laughter as therapeutic elements in the care of patients with cancer and chronic illness, and she creatively wove this theme into the presentation of her program of research on spiritual care, carefully describing her work and providing valuable suggestions for clinical practice. The critical points she made were that nurses working with patients and families should provide an open, comfortable forum for communication with patients and families, and that her research has not involved the use of formalized training or specific process guidelines for providing Spiritual Care. She was also very clear that spiritual care is not about religion and that it is important that nurses take the lead from patients and families regarding the direction of all discussions and support needs identified in this domain.

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© 2003 Sigma Theta Tau International, Xi Chapter