Palliative care nurses' spiritual caring interventions: A conceptual understanding

Abstract

Aims: To investigate spiritual caring by palliative care nurses and to describe their interventions. Background: Spirituality and spiritual caring are recognised as integral components of holistic nursing. Design: Qualitative data captured on a questionnaire were analysed thematically (Braun and Clarke, 2006). Methods: The study involved forty-two palliative care registered nurses working across seven palliative care services in Sydney, Australia. The research question was: 'What spiritual caring interventions do palliative care nurses use in their practice?' Nurses completed an open-ended questionnaire to identify and interpret their spiritual caring. Findings: Three sub-theme categories and four major concepts of spiritual caring. Categories identified are: humanistic, pragmatic and religious interventions; while concepts of spiritual caring are: 'being with', 'listening to', 'facilitation of' and 'engaging in'. Conclusion: A conceptual understanding of spiritual caring was identified.