Summary of Investigation
Dianne Dettmore

This survey consisted of nurses' conceptions of and practices in the spiritual dimension of nursing. The sample, composed of 63 registered nurses with a minimum of two years of clinical experience, voluntarily participated in half-hour interviews conducted by the investigator. The instrument, containing eight demographic and thirteen open-ended questions, was developed by the investigator, and both content validity and interrater reliability were established.

The findings of this survey apply to nursing practice, nurses, nursing education, and patients. When subjects described the spiritual dimension of practice, they articulated definitions of the psychosocial, spiritual, and religious dimensions of humans. Additionally, respondents emphasized the importance of relationships that patients had with their Supreme Being, nurses, and people in their environments. Subjects also provided assessment clues that alert nurses to the need for spiritual care and stated psychological and spiritual interventions useful when providing such care. However, most respondents did not think that patients expected nurses to provide spiritual care, although subjects most often expected themselves to respond to all clues presented by their patients. Finally, respondents stated that, the spiritual dimension of nursing care was not a high priority in nursing practice because other aspects of care often took precedence.

In describing the spiritual dimension of nurses, subjects stated that nurses who avowed the importance of spirituality in their own lives had access to a greater number of nursing interventions than those who disavowed spirituality. Participating in religious rituals and sharing the spiritual aspects of themselves were avenues of intervention open to avowing nurses, whereas listening, referring to clergy, conveying a nonjudgmental attitude, and providing for religious rituals were interventions open to all nurses regardless of their personal spirituality. The majority of subjects also stated that nurses profess greater proficiency in psychosocial rather than spiritual care.

When subjects described the spiritual aspects of nursing education, the majority reported minimal to no curricular input and a minority reported maximal input that was characterized by consistent emphasis on spiritual care in both classroom and clinical settings. Finally, when subjects described the types of patients who were most likely to express spiritual concerns, terminal, acutely ill, and the elderly were most frequently mentioned.

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