The impact of the spiritual dimensions of nursing care on nurses' life

Abstract

The Spiritual dimension in nursing care is mainly through the nurse patient relationship in which the nurse is expected to make therapeutic use of self (McEwan, 2004; Narayanasamy, 2001). The aim of this study is to explore the nurses' views, on the possible impact of spiritual dimension of nursing care on nurse's life. This small scale descriptive, exploratory study used a semi-structured face to face interview to collect data. Due to time constraints, a convenience sample of 8 nurses was recruited from the acute medical wards of the local general hospital. The nurses were interviewed on the medical wards, which is their usual place of work. The audio-taped interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed by Burnard (1991) Framework of Thematic Content Analysis. These themes emerged from the data, namely definition of the term spirituality, perception of the spiritual dimension in nursing care and the possible impact of spiritual care on nurses' life. According to nurses, spirituality was associated with religion, harmony in life and relationships. The nurses perceived the spiritual dimensions in care as being with, reading spiritual text, facilitating prayer, promoting appreciation of nature and sharing experiences. The impact of spiritual dimensions of nursing care on nurses' life was perceived, as searching for meaning in life, finding purpose in life, appreciating health, prioritizing life and valuing human life. Recommendations were made for clinical practice, nursing education, and further research. It is hoped that these findings will increase awareness of the spiritual dimension in care of the possible impact on nurses' life.