A comparison of three views of spirituality in oncology nursing

This article compares three views of spirituality with specific consideration for persons who live with cancer. These views represent theological, psychological, and nursing perspectives. Three dimensions of theologically inspired spirituality are discussed: institutional religious approaches, intellectual questioning, and mystical experiences. The authors review numerous psychological perspectives on the topic of spirituality, particularly from the analytic, humanistic, and existential schools of thought. A human becoming nursing theory perspective is also offered. The authors, who were friends, one a nurse and the other a person with cancer, suggest that nurses, who are able to offer true presence from a place of hope and fulfilled-emptiness, bear witness to persons in a way that can help them transfigure the experience of living with cancer.