Spirituality and spiritual care in nursing: A literature review

ABSTRACT

@#<p style="text-align: justify;">Spirituality is a multifaceted concept with varied definitions. In the nursing literature, it is commonly described based on its significance in the lives of individuals. Exploring the perspectives of nurses, nursing students, and patients regarding spirituality and spiritual care is crucial to gain a sound understanding of how these concepts impact the nursing profession. This literature review explored the perspectives on spirituality and spiritual care of four population groups: nurse educators, nursing students, clinical nurses, and patients. A literature search was done using worldwide databases. The 84 articles included dealt with the perceptions of nurse educators, nursing students, clinical nurses, and patients regarding spirituality and spiritual care.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The four main categories of perspectives from the nurse educators, nursing students, nurse clinicians, and patients yielded ten sub-categories: (a) meaning of spirituality and spiritual care, (b) role of spirituality and spiritual care in nursing practice, (c) role of nursing education in developing spirituality and spiritual care competence of nursing students, (d) manner of integrating spirituality and spiritual care in nursing curriculum, (e) methods of teaching spirituality and spiritual care, (f) manner of spiritual care delivery, (g) barriers and challenges to the teaching and learning of spirituality and spiritual care, (h) barriers and challenges to spiritual care delivery, (i) ways of enhancing nurse educators' competence in curricular integration and teaching spirituality and spiritual care, and (j) ways of enhancing nurses' competence in spiritual care delivery.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Nurse educators, nursing students, clinical nurses, and patients presented similar and diverse perspectives, but they all recognized the significance of spirituality and spiritual care in the profession. The information derived from this study can contribute to the existing knowledge base and spur strategies at individual and institutional levels to enhance teaching and learning of the concepts, improve practice, and promote holistic care.</p>