Competency In Spiritual Care

Competency in Spiritual Care One of the fundamental goals as a nurse is to provide holistic care for our patient. This means providing care that considers the, “totality of humans by recognizing the interconnectedness of body, mind, spirit, environment, society, and culture” (Costello, Atinaja-Faller, & Hedberg, 2012). When a nurse or nursing student cares for a patient on a deeper level, they provide holistic care in an effective way (Costello et al., 2012). One aspect of holistic care that nurses and nursing students are hesitant in addressing is spiritual care. Spiritual care is one of the most important aspects in nursing care. It promotes patient wellbeing and provides an environment that brings one’s life a sense of quality (Ross
The key words and phrases used to search for articles in this review of literature include: spiritual care, education, nurses, learning, research, nursing education, learning methods, teaching, and students. The search provided both qualitative and quantitative studies. The following literature addresses the use of different methods for nurses and nursing students increasing competency in spiritual
In conjunction, providing competent spiritual care is a not just a U.S. healthcare issue, but a worldwide concern. A research study was conducted in the Netherlands, to which, one of their focuses was to see if there is an effect when spiritual care training is provided for nurses. The hospital is recognized as a Christian organization that provides care for secular and orthodox reformed patients (Vlasblom et al., 2011). This quantitative study the nurses were asked to complete the questionnaire that was given before the training took place and six weeks after the training (Vlasblom et al., 2011). The nurses were to attend four sessions that lasted four hours each, totaling sixteen hours of training. After six weeks of training, the study revealed that nurse’s charting on spiritual questions and needs increased from 14% to 42% (Vlasblom et al., 2011). Nurses’ behavior in discussing spiritual care and needs went from 67% to 90% (Vlasblom et al., 2011). Another quantitative study done by the University of Malta in Europe, found nurses that underwent the educational course scored higher in spiritual care competency compared to nurses that did not take the course. This study revealed that education plays an important part in proving competent spiritual care