Threading spirituality throughout nursing education.

In a survey of 132 baccalaureate nursing programs in the United States, few had defined spirituality or spiritual nursing care. There is a paucity of literature on spirituality in nursing education. This article describes the integration of spirituality in a baccalaureate nursing program. Interventions such as establishing a trusting relationship, providing and facilitating a supportive spiritual environment, responding sensitively to the patient's spiritual and cultural belief systems, demonstrating caring, acknowledging the importance of "presence" during spiritual distress, and integrating spirituality into the plan of care are reflected in student clinical journal entries.