The Importance of Spiritual Care in Nursing Practice.

PURPOSE: Explore what spiritual care means to nurses who work in emergency care units. DESIGN AND METHOD: Nine nursing professionals from an emergency care unit at a private health institution affiliated with the Universidad de La Sabana participated in this descriptive qualitative study. Nonparticipant observation, field notes, and in-depth interviews with a question guide were used to collect the data, which were analyzed by means of content analysis. RESULTS: Three themes and their corresponding subthemes were identified with respect to the significance of spiritual care: (1) interpretation of spiritual care, (2) the patient and the family in spiritual care, and (3) the role of the nurse in spiritual care. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide a deeper understanding of spiritual care in terms of its significance. They also acknowledge its importance to nursing practice in emergency care units. The significance of spiritual care is based on theoretical, scientific, and humanistic points of reference (the discipline of nursing) that strengthen the therapeutic relationship between the patient/family-nurse dyad. The study also offers evidence for holistic nursing practice that requires theoretical-academic, administrative, and assistance support.

Significado del cuidado espiritual en el profesional de enfermería que se desempeña en un servicio de urgencias / Meaning of spiritual care in the nursing professional who works in an emergency service

Describir el significado del cuidado espiritual en el profesional de enfermería que se desempeña en un servicio de urgencias. Metodología: investigación cualitativa con metodología descriptiva-interpretativa, realizada en Chía, Colombia, de enero a febrero de 2011; incluyó a 9 profesionales de enfermería que se desempeñan en el servicio de urgencias de una institución de salud, con experiencia mayor a 4 meses en este servicio. Se utilizó entrevista a profundidad con pregunta guía, para recolectar los datos, que se analizaron a través del análisis de contenido latente. Conclusiones: Se logró describir el significado del cuidado espiritual en el profesional de enfermería que se desempeña en un servicio de urgencias, a través de las categorías: Interpretando el cuidado espiritual, paciente-familia en el cuidado espiritual y la enfermera en el cuidado espiritual.