Attitudes towards spirituality and spiritual care among nursing employees in hospitals

Authors

  • Tanja Montanič Starc Valdoltra Orthopedic Hospital, Jadranska cesta 31, 6280 Ankaran, Slovenia
  • Igor Karnjuš University of Primorska, Faculty of Health Sciences, Polje 42, 6310 Izola, Slovenia
  • Katarina Babnik University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, Department of Psychology, Aškerčeva 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14528/snr.2019.53.1.313

Keywords:

spirituality, spiritual care, attitudes, beliefs, nurses

Abstract

Introduction: Understanding spirituality and spiritual care is a prerequisite for holistic care. The research goal was to describe nurses' attitudes towards spirituality and spiritual care.
Methods: The study was carried out between 2015 and 2016 using a quantitative non-experimental method. The Spirituality and Spiritual Care Rating Scale Questionnaire was given to a sample of 182 nursing care employees, mostly women (n = 153, 88.4 %), with completed higher (n = 93, 53.8 %) or secondary (n = 75, 43.4 %) education, from four Slovenian hospitals. The questionnaire had adequate internal consistency (Cronbach alpha = 0.83).
Results: The highest agreement (x = 4.27, s = 0.82) was reached on the statement which describes spiritual care as respecting patient's privacy, dignity, cultural and religious beliefs. Participants also agreed with the statement that they provide spiritual care by demonstrating kindness, care, and cheerfulness (x = 4.2, s = 0.76), but they expressed uncertainty about the statement that spirituality and spiritual care are fundamental aspects of nursing care (x = 2.88, s = 1.08).
Discussion and conclusion: Participants connect spirituality with an understanding of themselves and the world, rather than only with religion and sacral objects. The research has confirmed the findings of previous Slovenian studies that nurses give priority to meeting patients' physical needs before spiritual ones probably also as a result of a lack of knowledge and professional guidance on spiritual care.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

Author Biographies

Tanja Montanič Starc, Valdoltra Orthopedic Hospital, Jadranska cesta 31, 6280 Ankaran, Slovenia

MSN, RN

Igor Karnjuš, University of Primorska, Faculty of Health Sciences, Polje 42, 6310 Izola, Slovenia

Assistant Professor, PhD, MSN, RN

Katarina Babnik, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, Department of Psychology, Aškerčeva 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia

Assistant Professor, MSc, BSc

References

Babnik, K. & Karnjuš, I., 2014. Duhovne potrebe in duhovna oskrba pacientov: ugotovitve dveh uvodnih raziskav. Informatica Medica Slovenica, 19(1), pp. 12–18. Available at: http://ims.mf.uni-lj.si/archive/19(1-2)/12.pdf [20. 8. 2018].

Babnik, K., Hvalič Touzery, S., Pesjak, K. & Skela-Savič, B., 2017. Zdravstvena nega kot stroka in znanost: pogled osnovnošolcev, dijakov in študentov zdravstvene nege. V: B. Skela-Savič & S. Hvalič Touzery, eds. Kontinuiran razvoj zdravstvene nege in njen prispevek k promociji zdravja: zbornik predavanj z recenzijo: 10. mednarodna znanstvena konferenca, 8. in 9. junij 2017, Bled, Slovenija. Jesenice: Fakulteta za zdravstvo Angele Boškin, pp. 74–82.

Battey, B.W., 2012. Perspectives of spiritual care for nurse managers. Journal of Nursing Management, 20(8), pp. 1012–1020. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2834.2012.01360.x

Borrell-Carrió, F., Suchman, A.L. & Epstein, R.M., 2004. The biopsychosocial model 25 years later: principles, practice, and scientific inquiry. Annals of Family Medicine, 2(6), pp. 576–582. https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.245 PMid:15576544; PMCid:PMC1466742

Buck, H.G. & McMillan, S.C., 2012. A psychometric analysis of the spiritual needs inventory in informal caregivers of patients with cancer in hospice home care. Oncology Nursing Forum, 39(4), pp. 332–339. https://doi.org/10.1188/12.ONF.E332-E339 PMid:22750903

Burkhardt, M.A., 1993. Characteristics of spirituality in the lives of women in a rural Appalachian community. Journal of transcultural nursing, 4(2), pp. 12–18. https://doi.org/10.1177/104365969300400203 PMid:8507430

Caldeira, S., de Carvalho, E.C., & Vieira, M., 2014. Between spiritual wellbeing and spiritual distress: possible related factors in elderly patients with cancer. Revista Latino-Americana De Enfermagem, 22(1), pp. 28–34. https://doi.org/10.1590/0104-1169.3073.2382 PMid:24553700; PMCid:PMC4292693

Cook, C., Breckon, J., Renwick, L., & Walker, P., 2012. Pathway to accommodate patients needs. Nursing Management, 19(2), pp. 33–37. https://doi.org/10.7748/nm2012.05.19.2.33.c9059 PMid:22690428

Daly, L., & Fahey-McCarthy, E. 2014. Attending to the spiritual in dementia care nursing. British Journal of Nursing, 23(14), pp. 787–791. https://doi.org/10.12968/bjon.2014.23.14.787 PMid:25062314

Elliott, R. 2011. Spirituality, mental health nursing and assessment. Journal of Community Nursing, 25(3), pp. 4–10.

Ellis, H.K., & Narayanasamy, A., 2009. An investigation into the role of spirituality in nursing. British Journal of Nursing, 18(14), pp. 886–890. https://doi.org/10.12968/bjon.2009.18.14.43358 PMid:19633601

Field, A., 2009. Discovering Statistics Using SPSS. 3rd ed. London: Sage.

Galek, K., Flannelly, K.J., Vane, A. & Galek, R.M., 2005. Assessing a patient's spiritual needs: a comprehensive instrument. Holistic Nursing Practice, 19(2), pp. 62–69. https://doi.org/10.1097/00004650-200503000-00006 PMid:15871588

Gall, T.L., Malette, J., & Guirguis-Younger, M., 2011. Spirituality and religiousness: a diversity of definitions. Journal of Spirituality on Mental Health, 13(3), pp. 158–181. https://doi.org/10.1080/19349637.2011.593404

Gedrih, M. & Pahor, M., 2009. Percepcija duhovnosti in duhovne oskrbe v domovih starejših občanov v Ljubljani: perspektivi stanovalcev in oskrbovalcev. Obzornik zdravstvene nege 43(3), pp. 191–200. Available at: https://obzornik.zbornica-zveza.si/index.php/ObzorZdravNeg/article/view/2724 [6. 3. 2018].

Gliem, J. & Gliem, R., 2003. Calculating, interpreting, and reporting Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient for Likert-type scales. Available at: https://scholarworks.iupui.edu/bitstream/handle/1805/344/gliem+&+gliem.pdf?sequence=1. [6. 3. 2018].

Herdman, T.H. & Kamitsuru, S., eds., 2014. NANDA International Nursing Diagnoses: Definitions & Classification, 2015–2017. Oxford: Wiley Blackwell.

Hsiao, S.M., Gau, M.L., Ingleton, C., Ryan, T. & Shih, F.-J., 2011. An exploration of spiritual needs of Taiwanese patients with advanced cancer during the therapeutic processes. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 20(7/8), pp. 950–959. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2702.2010.03278.x PMid:21044187

Kaddourah, B., Abu-Shaheen, A., & Al-Tannir, M., 2018. Nurses' perceptions of spirituality and spiritual care at five tertiary care hospitals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional study. Oman Medical Journal, 33(2), pp. 154–158. https://doi.org/10.5001/omj.2018.28 PMid:29657685; PMCid:PMC5889832

Karnjuš, I., Ratoša, G., & Babnik, K., 2014. Upoštevanje duhovnih in verskih potreb pacientov v bolnišničnem okolju - pilotna študija. V: T. Štemberger Kolnik, K. Babnik, D. Ravnik, M. Bulič, D. Barlič- Magajn, et al., eds. Zdravstvena nega v javnem zdravju: druga znanstvena konferenca z mednarodno udeležbo, Izola, 31. januar 2014. Koper: Založba Univerze na Primorskem, pp. 199–207.

Kavosi, A., Taghiabadi, M., Mohammadi, G., Yazdi, K., Shirdelzadeh, S., Nasiri, H., et al., 2018. Nursing managers attitude toward spirituality and spiritual care in Khorasan Razavi Province hospitals in 2016. Electronic Physician, 10(3), pp. 6571–6576. https://doi.org/10.19082/6571 PMid:29765584; PMCid:PMC5942580

Khoshknab, M.F., Mazaheri, M., Maddah, S. & Rahgozar, M., 2010. Validation and reliability test of Persian version of The Spirituality and Spiritual Care Rating Scale (SSCRS). Journal of Clinical Nursing, 19(19/20), pp. 2939–2941. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2702.2010.03411.x PMid:20846236

Kodeks etike v zdravstveni negi in oskrbi Slovenije, 2014. Ljubljana: Zbornica zdravstvene in babiške nege Slovenije – Zveza strokovnih društev medicinskih sester, babic in zdravstvenih tehnikov Slovenije.

Kostak, M.A. & Celikkalp, U., 2016. Nurses and midwives opinions about spirituality and spiritual care. International Journal of Caring Sciences, 9(3), 975–984. Available at: http://www.internationaljournalofcaringsciences.org/docs/26_1-kostak_originial_9_3.pdf [30. 8. 2018].

MacKinlay, E., 2002. The spiritual dimension of caring: applying a model for spiritual tasks of ageing. Journal of Religious Gerontology, 12(3/4), pp. 151–166. https://doi.org/10.1300/J078v12n03_12

Martins, A.R., Pinto, S., Caldeira, S., & Pimentel, F.L., 2015. Translation and adaptation of the spirituality and spiritual care rating scale in portuguese palliative care nurses. Revista De Enfermagem Referência, 4(4), pp. 89–97. https://doi.org/10.12707/RIII13129

Mayers, C. & Johnston, D., 2008. Spirituality-the emergence of a working definition for use within healthcare practice. Implicit Religion, 11(3), pp. 265–275.

McSherry W., 1998. Nurses' perceptions of spirituality and spiritual care. Nursing Standard, 13(4), pp. 36–40. https://doi.org/10.7748/ns1998.10.13.4.36.c2537 PMid:9887788

McSherry, W., Draper, P. & Kendrick, D., 2002. The construct validity of a rating scale designed to assess spirituality and spiritual care. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 39(7), pp. 723–734. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0020-7489(02)00014-7

McSherry, W., & Cash, K., 2004. The language of spirituality: an emerging taxonomy. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 41(2), pp. 151–161. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0020-7489(03)00114-7

McSherry, W. & Jamieson, S., 2011. An online survey of nurses'perceptions of spirituality and spiritual care. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 20(11/12), pp. 1757–1767. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2702.2010.03547.x PMid:21385257

McSherry, W. & Jamieson, S., 2013. The qualitative findings from an online survey investigating nurses' perceptions of spirituality and spiritual care. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 22(21/22), pp. 3170–3182. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.12411 PMid:24118520

Molzahn, A.E. & Sheilds, L., 2008. Why is it so hard to talk about spirituality. The Canadian Nurse, 104(1), pp. 25–29. PMid:18286982

Mthembu, T., Roman, N., & Wegner, L. 2016. A cross-sectional descriptive study of occupational therapy students' perceptions and attitudes towards spirituality and spiritual care in occupational therapy education. Journal of Religion & Health, 55(5), pp. 1529-1545. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-015-0125-3 PMid:26374135

Murray, R.P. & Dunn, K.S., 2017. Assessing nurses' knowledge of spiritual care practices before and after an educational workshop. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 48(3), pp. 115–122. https://doi.org/10.3928/00220124-20170220-07 PMid:28253418

Nixon, A.V., Narayanasamy, A. & Penny, V., 2013. An investigation into the spiritual needs of neuro-oncology patients from a nurse perspective. BMC Nursing, 12, p. 2. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6955-12-2 PMid:23374999; PMCid:PMC3567993

Paley, J., 2008. Spirituality and secularization: nursing and the sociology of religion. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 17(2), pp. 175–186. PMid:17419777

Paley, J., 2010. Spirituality and reductionism: three replies. Nursing Philosophy, 11(3), pp. 178–190. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-69X.2010.00439.x PMid:20536767

Pesut, B., 2008. Spiritual care in nursing fundamentals Textbooks. Journal of Nursing Education, 47(4), pp. 167–173. https://doi.org/10.3928/01484834-20080401-05 PMid:18468293

Pike, J., 2011. Spirituality in nursing: a systematic review of the literature from 2006–2010. British Journal of Nursing, 20(12), pp. 743–749. https://doi.org/10.12968/bjon.2011.20.12.743 PMid:21727836

Ramezani, M., Ahmadi, F., Mohammadi, E., & Kazemnejad, A. 2014. Spiritual care in nursing: a concept analysis. International Nursing Review, 61(2), pp. 211–219. https://doi.org/10.1111/inr.12099 PMid:24712404

Sharma, R.K., Astrow, A.B., Texeira, K. & Sulmasy, D.P., 2012. The Spiritual Needs Assessment for Patients (SNAP): development and validation of a comprehensive instrument to assess unmet spiritual needs. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 44(1), pp. 44–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2011.07.008 PMid:22658473

Skoberne, M., 2002. Duhovnost in duhovno zdravje. Obzornik zdravstvene nege, 36(1), pp. 23–31. Available at: http://www.obzornikzdravstvenenege.si/2002.36.1.23 [16. 3. 2017].

Sulmasy, D.P., 2002. A biopsychosocial-spiritual model for the care of patients at the end of life. Gerontologist, 42(Suppl 3), pp. 24–33. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/42.suppl_3.24

Šolar, B. & Mihelič Zajec, A. 2007. Vloga medicinske sestre v procesu umiranja in duhovni oskrbi v Splošni bolnišnici Jesenice. Obzornik zdravstvene nege, 41(2/3), pp. 137–146. Available at: http://www.obzornikzdravstvenenege.si/2007.41.3.137 [16. 3. 2017].

Štrancar, K. 2009. Spoprijemanje z neozdravljivo boleznijo. V: S. Novaković, B. Zakotnik & J. Žgajnar, eds. Paliativna oskrba bolnika ob koncu življenja. Ljubljana: Kancerološko združenje SZD: Onkološki inštitut : Zveza slovenskih društev za boj proti raku, pp. 71–75.

Tanyi, R.A., 2002. Towards clarification of the meaning of spirituality. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 39(5), pp. 500–509. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2648.2002.02315.x PMid:12175360

Timmins, F & McSherry W., 2012. Spirituality: the Holy Grail of contemporary nursing practice. Journal of Nursing Management, 20(8), pp. 951–957. https://doi.org/10.1111/jonm.12038 PMid:23151097

van Dierendonck, D., & Mohan, K., 2006. Some thoughts on spirituality and eudaimonic wellbeing. Mental Health, Religion and Culture, 9(3), pp. 227–238. https://doi.org/10.1080/13694670600615383

van Leeuwen, R., & Schep-Akkerman, A., 2015. Nurses'perceptions of spirituality and spiritual care in different health care settings in the Netherlands. Religions, 6(4), pp. 1346–1357. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel6041346

World Medical Association, 2013. World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki: ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects. Journal of the American Medical Association, 310(20), pp. 2191–2194. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2013.281053 PMid:24141714

Zakšek, T., 2010. Spiritualnost v zdravstveni negi in babištvu. Obzornik zdravstvene nege, 44(4), pp. 263–267. Available at: https://obzornik.zbornica-zveza.si/index.php/ObzorZdravNeg/article/view/2787 [16. 3. 2017].

Downloads

Published

2019-03-15

How to Cite

Montanič Starc, T., Karnjuš, I., & Babnik, K. (2019). Attitudes towards spirituality and spiritual care among nursing employees in hospitals. Slovenian Nursing Review, 53(1), 31–48. https://doi.org/10.14528/snr.2019.53.1.313

Issue

Section

Original scientific article