Is spirituality evident as part of the caring activity of nurses within a intensive care unit?

Background: Caring within nursing is a complex concept but is often considered to be a holistic activity that includes considering spiritual needs (Austgard 2008).

Aim: The aim of this presentation is to explore whether spirituality is considered when caring for critically ill patients.

Methodology: 13 qualified nurses, currently working within an intensive care unit, were interviewed about the components of caring for critically ill patients.

Analysis: Content analysis was utilised to explore whether the areas of Miner-Williams (2006) ‘Model of Spirituality’ were evident within the interview data. Data was examined around the relational, behavioural, values and concepts highlighted within the model.

Results: All participants talked about the importance of interaction and holistic care. However, many of the aspects in the model were not highlighted such as forgiveness, religion, and some were scantly addressed such as hope, peace. Most of the participants related the elements to the importance of psychological rather than spiritual care.

Limitations: The nurses’ views may not reflect patients’ experiences and concerns relating to spirituality.

Discussion: Although holistic care is viewed as important the participants in this study focused on the body and mind elements rather than spirit. This may be due to lack of awareness about the spiritual issues in critically ill patients or difficulty in applying the model to this practice setting.

Conclusion: Further work to explore the relevance of spirituality for critically ill patients is needed so that this can be integrated into holistic practice.