Spiritual care: what does it mean to RNs?

The purpose of this descriptive study was to discover the meanings that two groups of registered nurses ascribed to the word 'spirit' and its derivatives. The study also examined the nurses' perceptions of the nature of spiritual nursing, the status of spiritual care in relation to 'normal' nursing care and the adequacy of nursing education as preparation for providing spiritual care. Data were gathered from audio-taped interviews with 10 registered nurses who worked in one hospice and 10 who worked in a variety of acute care settings. The participants were asked four open-ended questions and from their responses 29 themes emerged which led to the construction of a model which shows that the nurses delivering spiritual care are influenced by their practice settings and nursing education which together impact on the quality of spiritual care. The elements of the model are discussed and recommendations that flow from the findings are made.