Spirituality, nursing and pain: an indissociable triad

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Spirituality is intrinsically involved in nursing care. Despite being a topic that, in recent years, has attracted the interest of researchers, there is still little evidence to prove the effect of spirituality in reducing pain and associated anxiety. In this sense, the aim of this study was to identify the state of science related to the use of spirituality as a nursing intervention to control patients' pain and anxiety in different health problems. CONTENTS: An integrative literature review in the following databases: Pubmed, Cochrane, Web of Science and Biblioteca Virtual da Saúde (BVS -Virtual Health Library). Data collection was carried out in May and updated in September 2021. Scientific articles with full text available published in the last 10 years that addressed spirituality in nursing care to patients with pain and anxiety were included. Ten articles were included in the analysis, including six randomized clinical trials, two quasi--experimental studies and two systematic reviews. The following interventions based on spirituality that guided nursing in pain reduction were identified: prayer meditation, prayer, positive thinking training, active listening, among others. All articles showed a positive effect in reducing pain and anxiety, as well as improving vital parameters. CONCLUSION: Nursing interventions based on spiritual care techniques seem to be effective in reducing pain and anxiety. Nevertheless, further studies should be carried out in order to validate that spirituality as nursing care is effective in reducing pain and associated anxiety.

Spiritual Experiences of Portuguese Women Who had a Water Birth

“…During childbirth, professionals can use the following care to improve women's spiritual well-being: trusting relationships, careful and active listening, moral and psychological support, words of encouragement, religious intervention, prayers during treatment, positive thinking, and communication with the divine through a prayer (Moreira et al, 2021). 3.…”