Nurses’ Perceptions of Spirituality and Spiritual Care in Different Health Care Settings in the Netherlands

Abstract

This paper shows similarities and differences in perceptions and competences regarding spirituality and spiritual care of nurses in different health care settings. Research on this specific topic is limited and can contribute towards a nuanced implementation of spiritual care in different nursing care settings. Four hundred forty nine nurses in different health care settings completed a questionnaire concerning spirituality and spiritual care, spiritual care competence, and personal spirituality. Respondents reported a generic (instead of more specific) view of spirituality and spiritual care, and they perceived themselves to be competent in providing spiritual care. Compared to nurses in hospital settings, nurses in mental health care and home care have a more generic view of spirituality and spiritual care and report a higher level of competence. Next to this, they perceive themselves more as spiritual persons. Future research is needed to develop further understanding in setting specific factors and their influence on nurses' views and competence regarding spiritual care. Nursing education and management should consider an emphasis on spiritual competence development related to working settings of nurses.

New Zealand Nurses’ Perceptions of Spirituality and Spiritual care: Qualitative Findings from a National Survey

“…Many participants expressed confusion regarding the place of personal spiritual or religious tendencies and beliefs in the professional workspace. Others have noted this trend and attributed it to the increasing secularisation of society (van Leeuwen and Schep-Akkerman 2015;McSherry and Jamieson 2013). Generating a supportive environment in which appropriate expression of spirituality and/or religiosity by nursing staff will likely improve work satisfaction, patient care and protect against psycho-physical exhaustion or 'burn out' (Taylor 2014).…”

“…The spirituality and nursing literature has grown considerably in the last decade in such areas as nurse education (Wu et al 2016;Ross et al 2016;Timmins et al 2015;Baldacchino 2011), communication (Wittenberg et al 2016), nurse's self-care (Spadoni and Sevean 2016), experiences in the clinic (Nascimento et al 2016;Cone and Giske 2016;van Leeuwen and Schep-Akkerman 2015), assessment (McSherry and Ross 2002;Adib-Hajbaghery and Zehtabchi 2016) and definitions (Tanyi 2002;Reinert and Koenig 2013). The research, exemplified by recent spirituality and cancer meta-analysis Sherman et al 2015;Salsman et al 2015) confirms the importance of attending to this domain, is such that the Scottish National Health Service (NHS Education Scotland 2009), the US Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organisations (Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Associations 2005), and New Zealand's Ministry of Health (Ministry of Health 2010) all call for spiritual needs to be addressed in various healthcare settings.…”

An Investigation of the Perceptions and Practices of Nursing Students Regarding Spirituality and Spiritual Care

“…It has been emphasized in studies in this country and abroad that a lack of education is an important factor among the reasons for nurses not meeting the spiritual needs of individuals [5,8,16,17]. Also, McSherry reported that the concept of spirituality and spiritual care in nursing remained theoretical in the fields of organization, management and practice, and that going beyond this is necessary [18].…”

Special Issue “International Conference of Spirituality in Healthcare. Sowing the Seeds”—Trinity College Dublin 2015

“…These authors also emphasised the importance of reflection for the development of spiritual competence [4]. In van Leeuwen and Schep-Akkerman's [28] study, nurses (n = 449) self-declared themselves spiritually competent, with mental health nurses receiving higher scores. In another paper in this series [32] most South African nurses (n = 280) determined that spiritual care giving was part of the nurse's role, but need greater preparedness.…”

“…Within this list of competencies the importance of assessing and documenting spiritual care needs and interventions are highlighted, but so also is handling one's own beliefs, which can be developed by personal critical reflection. Van Leeuwen, co-authored another of the papers in this Special Issue which specifically addresses spiritual competence of nurses [28]. Spadoni and Sevean [4] also describe an ambitious and detailed education package provided to nursing students, and are convinced of the benefit of and need for such education among nurses, a belief that is reiterated throughout the nursing literature [29][30][31].…”