Frequency of nurse-provided spiritual care: An international comparison.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To compare the frequency of nurse-provided spiritual care across diverse cultures. BACKGROUND: Given an ethical imperative to respect patient spirituality and religiosity, nurses are increasingly taught and expected to provide spiritual care. Although nurses report positive attitudes toward spiritual care, they typically self-report providing it infrequently. Evidence about the reported frequency of spiritual care is constrained by substantial variation in its measurement. DESIGN: This cross-sectional, descriptive study involved secondary analysis of data collected in multiple sites globally using one quantitative instrument. METHODS: Data were collected from practicing nurses using the Nurse Spiritual Care Therapeutics Scale and analysed using descriptive statistics and a meta-analysis procedure with random-effect modelling. Datasets from 16 studies completed in Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Philippines, Portugal, Taiwan, Turkey and the United States contributed to a pooled sample (n = 4062). STROBE guidelines for cross-sectional observational studies were observed. RESULTS: Spiritual care varied between countries and within countries. It was slightly more frequent within Islamic cultures compared with predominantly Christian cultures. Likewise, frequency of spiritual care differed between nurses in palliative care, predominantly hospital/inpatient settings, and skilled nursing homes. Overall, "Remaining present…" was the most frequent therapeutic, whereas documenting spiritual care and making arrangements for the patient's clergy or a chaplain to visit were among the most infrequent therapeutics. CONCLUSIONS: In widely varying degrees of frequency, nurses around the world provide care that is cognisant of the spiritual and religious responses to living with health challenges. Future research should be designed to adjust for the multiple factors that may contribute to nurses providing spiritual care. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Findings offer a benchmark and begin to inform nurse leaders about what may be normative in practice. They also encourage nurses providing direct patient care that they are not alone and inform educators about what instruction future nurses require.

Perceived barriers to providing spiritual care among psychiatric mental health nurses.

BACKGROUND: Although nurses typically view spiritual care as important, it is provided infrequently. OBJECTIVES: This research investigated psychiatric mental health nurses' perceived barriers to providing spiritual care, and how these barriers were associated with frequency of spiritual care and demographic factors. METHODS: This cross-sectional correlational study of 159 psychiatric mental health nurses used questionnaires to measure frequency of spiritual care and barriers to spiritual care. RESULTS: The most frequent barriers to providing spiritual care were lack of education and fear of exacerbating psychiatric symptoms. Psychiatric mental health nurses provided spiritual care infrequently. CONCLUSIONS: Nurses need education about providing spiritual care to those with psychiatric mental health needs.

Spiritual Perspectives, Spiritual Care, and Knowledge of Recovery Among Psychiatric Mental Health Nurses.

BACKGROUND: Promoting spiritual well-being aids the mental health recovery process. Furthermore, nursing governance bodies and national mental health care regulators support spiritual care as a mental health-promoting approach. Although spiritual well-being is integral to quality of life in people with mental illness, little is known about the psychiatric mental health (PMH) nurses' provision of spiritual care. AIMS: Spiritual perspectives, frequency of spiritual care, and knowledge of recovery-oriented practice were measured. Variables were explored to identify a model of spiritual care. METHOD: A descriptive correlational cross-sectional design was employed. Analyses of data using descriptive statistics, correlations, and hierarchical multiple regression were conducted with a convenience sample of 171 PMH nurses. RESULTS: Participants scored high on measurement of spiritual perspectives, moderate on measurement of knowledge about recovery-oriented practice, and indicated a moderate degree of frequency of provision of spiritual care. Nurses who viewed themselves as "spiritual and religious" provided more frequent spiritual care and had higher levels of spiritual perspectives than those who viewed themselves as "spiritual but not religious." Significant contributors to spiritual care were spiritual perspectives and years of experience as a PMH nurse. Knowledge of recovery-oriented practice, however, did not contribute to a model of spiritual care. CONCLUSIONS: Nurses' spiritual perspectives, religiosity, and years of experience are factors that may explain nurse-provided spiritual care. Findings imply that spiritual and/or religious development may support PMH nurses to provide spiritual care.

Treatment and Spiritual Care in Mental Health: Recovery As a Journey, Not a Destination.

Recovery in mental illness is a person-oriented process that involves self-determination/choice, and growth potential. This article discusses eight components of recovery-oriented treatment, and how nurses in any setting can facilitate recovery and encourage the healthy role of spirituality in clients' lives during the recovery process. Biblical references relating to each component of the recovery-oriented process are offered.