Nurses pray: use of prayer and spirituality as a complementary therapy in the intensive care setting

The power that prayer and spirituality exerts on healing cannot be underestimated. Body, mind, and spirit are connected to each other. Although patients in hospitals may have the best medical and nursing care available, many seek alternative or complementary therapies. One adjunctive therapy that has grown in popularity recently is the incorporation of prayer and spirituality into the traditional approaches used with acute and critically ill patients. Spirituality is returning to healthcare because many patients believe in it and seek it as part of their treatment. Although spirituality is only one of the many types of alternative and complementary therapies available to patients, it can be powerful approach to their care. This article explores the use of spirituality with a special focus on prayer.