Abstract
Healthcare involves caring for individuals in a person-centred and com-passionate way. This means nurses and indeed all those providing care, supporting and attending to the holistic needs of the person; physically, psychologically, socially and spiritually. This chapter explores what is meant by the concepts of spirituality and spiritual needs with a specific focus upon the role of the nurse. The spiritual dimension of the person has been integrated within some nursing theories and models but the challenge many nurses face in frontline clinical care is applying these concepts in practice. It is not surprising then that over the past two dec-ades nurses have called for more education to prepare them for this as-pect of their role. Research has shown that education can play and im-portant part in ensuring nurses feel more confident and competent to support patients with their spiritual needs. The chapter seeks to dispel some of the myths that attending the spiritual needs of patients takes more time offering suggestions on how to integrate spiritual care within everyday practice.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Spiritual Needs in Research and Practice: The Spiritual Needs Questionnaire as a Global Resource for Health and Social Care |
| Editors | Arndt Büssing |
| Publisher | Springer Nature |
| Chapter | 29 |
| Pages | 419-436 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 978-3-030-70139-0 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978-3-030-70138-3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2021 |
Keywords
- spirituality
- spiritual care
- spiritual care competence
- Spiritual care education
- holistic
- nurses