Open AccessA Pilot Study of Nurses' Experience of Giving Spiritual Care
Author(s) -
Belinda Deal
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the qualitative report
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2160-3715
DOI - 10.46743/2160-3715/2010.1184
Subject(s) - spiritual care , nursing , psychological intervention , psychology , nursing care , lived experience , phenomenology (philosophy) , interpretative phenomenological analysis , holistic nursing , qualitative research , medicine , spirituality , psychotherapist , sociology , alternative medicine , philosophy , epistemology , pathology , social science
Using spiritual and religious resources gives patients and families strength to cope during a crisis, but nurses often do not offer spiritual care (Kloosterhouse & Ames, 2002). The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore nurses" lived experience of giving spiritual care. A descriptive phenomenological approach was used to interview 4 nurses. Data were analyzed using Colaizzi's (1978) phenomenological method. Five themes were identified: spiritual care is patient-centered, spiritual care is an important part of nursing, spiritual care can be simple to give, spiritual care is not expected but is welcomed by patients, and spiritual care is given by diverse caregivers. Spiritual care is an integral part of nursing and nurses can support patients with spiritual interventions.