Spiritual care has long been recognized as an essential component in providing holistic care to patients. However, many nurses have acknowledged that their education lacked practical guidelines on how to provide culturally competent spiritual care. Although all nurses are required to provide spiritual care, rehabilitation nurses are particularly challenged to be competent in this area, due to the lengthy recovery time and special needs often presented by rehabilitation patients. This article provides practical guidelines for rehabilitation nurses, to assist patients in meeting their spiritual needs.

This qualitative study assessed if parish nurses (PNs) perceive the basic preparation course they attended prepared them to incorporate the spiritual dimension into their practice. It was unclear if the course was a major variable or if previous spiritual training and experience are the critical dimensions related to whether or not PNs feel prepared to incorporate the spiritual dimension into their practice.

This study explored Christian nurses' views of their source of caring (Deity or other), adherence to biblical faith practices, and view of nursing as a job, career, profession, or calling. Participants who reported Deity (God, Christ, Holy Spirit) as their source of caring were more likely to view nursing as a calling and report a higher degree of volunteering (serving), giving (financially to a religious community), devotions and prayer (personal walk), and fellowship (meeting with a community of other believers). Results have implications for understanding the concept of caring within the context of a Christian worldview.

Historically, some propose that organized nursing was founded on biblical principles and the caring behaviors and characteristics of Christ, and that caring originates with God. More recently, perceptions of caring have shifted to a humanistic, postmodern worldview, where the source of caring is within the person. This integrative literature review synthesized caring literature from humanistic, postmodern, and biblical, theological worldviews. Findings reveal that 95% of research and 85% of nonresearch publications were written from the humanistic perspective. The results lay a foundation for an alternative middle range theory on caring from a biblical worldview for nurses holding Christian beliefs.