Reevaluation of a nursing diagnosis: spiritual distress

The purpose of this paper is to reevaluate the nursing diagnosis of spiritual distress in relation to Marjory Gordon's criteria of discriminatory power, generality, flexibility, usefulness, and inclusiveness. The author suggests that nursing's perspective of the spiritual dimension and spiritual distress is both narrow and inadequate in today's multicultural, multidimensional healthcare setting. Views of spirituality from multiple disciplines are discussed to illustrate the diversity of the phenomenon and contrast views that primarily emphasize religiosity and psychosocial factors. Reevaluation of spiritual distress and spirituality must come in the form of holistic and humanistic approaches in nursing education and research, integration of the spiritual dimension within nursing curricula, and recognition of multidisciplinary, global perspectives of the spiritual phenomenon. The author stresses the importance of the spiritual dimension and its impact upon a person as a multidimensional being.