Forgiveness and Spiritual Distress: Implications for Nursing

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Psychology
• Healthcare

Background:

• Spirituality, spiritual distress, and forgiveness are integral to nursing care planning.
• Forgiveness influences individual spirituality and is associated with diverse health outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To highlight the importance of forgiveness and spiritual distress in nursing.
• To advocate for enhanced integration of these concepts in nursing education and practice.

Main Methods:

• Literature review on spirituality, spiritual distress, and forgiveness in nursing.
• Analysis of evidence-based nursing interventions for spiritual distress.

Main Results:

• Forgiveness facilitation, grief work, and spiritual growth are evidence-based interventions.
• Current nursing curricula, patient assessments, and research designs require improvement regarding spiritual distress and forgiveness.

Conclusions:

• There is a need to strengthen the focus on spiritual distress and forgiveness in nursing.
• Integrating these concepts can improve patient assessment, care planning, and research.