Spirituality in nursing: a systematic review of the literature from 2006-10

Spirituality in nursing care has been discussed for many years in the nursing press. There has been no literature review that explores only UK literature, and this article updates a literature review carried out in 2006 (Ross, 2006). aIM: The review was designed to investigate the current nursing evidence underpinning the concept of spirituality and its application.

A systematic review of the literature was undertaken and a thematic analysis performed following a search for literature using defined dates, databases and search terms.

Four major themes emerged from the literature: concept clarification; spiritual care-giving; religion and spirituality; and nurse education.

Definitions of spiritual care vary, and the concept of spirituality in nursing is still under development. However, until a common language of spirituality is developed, models of spiritual care developed through research involving mainly nursing staff will be difficult for nurses to apply.