Nurses' perceptions of the spiritual care of patients

Abstract

Although commitment to holistic care is an established notion in nursing, the lack of research in the spiritual dimension of care led the student researcher to carry out a small scale study which aimed to explore nurses' perceptions of the spiritual care of patients. The student researcher used a descriptive non-experimental design where qualitative and quantitative data were obtained through a self administered questionnaire. The sample used was a convenience sample of eighteen Maltese nurses working full,-time in two medical wards at the local general hospital. The response rate was of 100%. This study gave further indication that spirituality and spiritual care are still highly associated by nurses with religiosity. This finding is recurrent in previous studies carried out in societies with a predominant Judeo-Christian faith (Ross 1997a, Narayansamy 1993). Therefore in such situations, even though literature agrees that spirituality cannot be limited to believers, religiosity might be that factor in life which gives meaning and purpose and embraces all the individual's relationships. These are the attributes given to spirituality by most of the literature reviewed in this last decade (Ross 1997a, Long 1997). Results showed that nurses might have some awareness about spiritual care, but show lack of knowledge as probably they do not consider it as an integral part of their role. Education given to qualified and student nurses might increase self-awareness and the knowledge base for the future implementation of spiritual care. Furthermore the ward environment was identified as an inhibiting factor which might be overcome by systematic and practical ways. Spirituality in nursing seems to be still in its infancy due to lack of research. Therefore if nurses claim their commitment to holistic care, the profession is urged to focus more on education and research in such facet of care.