Implementing a Spiritual Care Subject for Holistic Nursing Practice: A Mixed Method Study.

Aim: The aims of this sequential explanatory mixed method study were twofold 1. Firstly, to evaluate the implementation of a spiritual care subject in a nursing program. 2. Secondly, to examine undergraduate nursing students' perceptions of providing spiritual care within their holistic care practice. Background: Studies conducted internationally indicate many nurses feel inadequately prepared to provide holistic care inclusive of spiritual care due to insufficient spiritual care education. Design: Two phase, sequential explanatory mixed method design which comprised of a quantitative study followed by a qualitative study. Methods: The setting was an Australian faith-based university. Participants comprised of undergraduate nursing students who were enrolled in a spiritual care subject. Findings: Two study findings emerged: 1. Participants' knowledge and practice of spiritual care were transformed by the spiritual care subject, and 2. The spiritual care subject broadened perceptions of spiritual care so participants viewed themselves more equipped to provide spiritual care in their holistic care provision. Conclusion: The spiritual care subject had an affirmative influence on participants' perceptions of providing spiritual care within holistic care practice. The findings have implications for nurse educators to consider how spiritual care content can be included within undergraduate nursing curricula.

Spirituality and Standards for Practice: A Critical Discourse Analysis.

Research Objective: The aim of this article is to report a study that explores how spirituality is understood to be represented in the current Australian Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) Registered Nurse (RN) standards for practice. Research Design: Fairclough's approach to critical discourse analysis was applied in the examination of participant interview texts for the language used in relation to spirituality as well as power mechanisms which influenced the way the participants viewed spirituality's representation in the RN Standards for Practice. Participants: Three members of the RN Standards for Practice research and development team. Results: Findings indicate three discourses shaped the way participants viewed how spirituality is presently represented in the RN Standards for Practice. Discourses are (1) spirituality as part of holistic care, (2) spirituality as part of person-centered care, and (3) the professionalization of nursing. Conclusions: Participant interviews revealed these discourses exerted power over how spirituality was represented within the RN Standards for Practice. This has implications for the inclusion of spirituality in the practice standards and the practice of spiritual care.

How Nurses Understand Spirituality and Spiritual Care: A Critical Synthesis.

Aims: To discover how nurses understand spirituality and spiritual care and what affects nurses' understanding of these terms. Method: A literature search was conducted in CINAHL Plus, MEDLINE, and Google Scholar for research articles dated between 2010 and 2018 that were published in English. Using the Critical Appraisal Skills Program checklist for systematic reviews, nine articles met the inclusion criteria for this review. Most of these articles reported quantitative studies. Results: Although nurses recognize the importance of spirituality and spiritual care in nursing and have ascribed a diversity of meanings, there remains some confusion about what these terms mean. Several influences have been identified as shaping nurses understanding of spirituality and spiritual care, including education, nurses' own spirituality or religious beliefs, age, years of clinical experience, and place of employment. Conclusions: This review identifies the need for further studies using qualitative approaches to investigate how nurses' construct their understanding of spirituality and spiritual care and the dominant discourses nurses draw from to inform their understanding using qualitative approaches. Relevance to Clinical Practice: The insights gained by this review may be of value to nurse educators, managers, and policy makers in nursing education and the development of policies and practice guidelines.

Undergraduate nurse students' perspectives of spiritual care education in an Australian context.

BACKGROUND: The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council competency standards highlight the need to provide holistic care that is inclusive of spiritual care. Literature shows that internationally many nurses feel unsure of how to provide spiritual care which has been attributed to a lack of spiritual care education during undergraduate nursing programs. AIM: This study explores the impact of a spiritual care subject in an undergraduate nursing program in an Australian tertiary institution. METHOD: Qualitative research design using in-depth semi-structured interviews. SETTING: A tertiary institution with a Christian orientation in Sydney, Australia. PARTICIPANTS: Six undergraduate nursing students who had completed the spiritual care subject. DATA RESULTS: Two themes emerged from the data: Seeing the person as a whole and Being with the person. CONCLUSIONS: The spiritual care subject had a positive impact on the perceptions of undergraduate nursing students. In particular students perceived themselves more prepared to provide holistic care that was inclusive of spiritual care.