The Influence of Spirituality on Professional Identity, Role Performance, and Career Resilience among Nursing Home Social Workers.

This paper explores how social workers integrate personal spirituality within nursing homes, where a highly regulated, stressful environment marginalizes professional identity and challenges retention. Researchers offer new evidence of how spirituality informs professional identity, ethical practice, and continuation in the role. Twenty BSW/MSW licensed nursing home social workers (NHSWs) reported how they daily navigate the personal spirituality-at-work opportunity and challenge. Qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews resulted in three primary codes and related subcodes: Spirituality-Integrated Professional Identity (Vocational Affirmation and Value Alignment), Spirituality-Informed Practice (Intervention Asset, Relational Affinity, and Ambiguous Boundaries), and Spiritually-Sustained Career Resilience. Respondents reported how spirituality animated professional identity, informed daily role enactment, and sustained role involvement. Recommendations are provided for normalizing ethical spirituality-at-work through social work education and practical guidance in navigating the spirituality and practice space.

The Impact of Spirituality and Religious Practice on Senior Living Leader Career Resilience.

Experienced senior living leaders (SLLs) report the impact of spirituality and religious practice on SLL role adaptation and continuation. The sample included 18 SLLs in 18 skilled care settings representing public, non-profit, and for-profit types of incorporation, with oversampling of for-profit facilities. The average years of SLL experience was 24 years. In-depth interviews were examined through a thematic analysis approach using Excel software. Seventy-eight percent described how a higher power, religious beliefs, and faith practices were associated with their role. Their narratives revealed three major themes: Frame (calling and pre-dispositional spiritual beliefs and religious practices), Role Performance (how spirituality informed SLL administrative practice), and Benefits (perceived rewards of adherence to spiritual beliefs and practices). Further analysis of the three themes produced codes that added greater specification for each theme. Implications provided for normalizing the spirituality and work-life intersect and infusing ethical integration of spirituality and work-life in SLL educational programs.