Developing and Implementing a Spiritual Self-Care Program for Hospice Team Members

The purpose of this study was to develop a spiritual self-care program for hospice team members and to evaluate its effects on stress management, spiritual self-care, and burnout. The research method was a quasi-experimental study with a nonequivalent control group pre-post design, and the participants were hospice team members working in a hospice care organization, with 20 participants in the experimental group and 19 participants in the control group. The experimental group completed a spiritual self-care program over 7 sessions, which included topics such as self-awareness, finding meaning in life, and mindfulness. Stress management, spiritual self-care, and burnout were assessed before the program and immediately after the program ended. The results showed that stress management and spiritual self-care scores significantly increased in the experimental group compared with the control group. Burnout scores also decreased significantly in the experimental group. The spiritual self-care program for hospice team was found to be effective in improving stress management and reducing burnout. This study emphasizes the necessity for developing self-care programs aimed at supporting the emotional and psychological health of hospice team and suggests providing educational programs on a regular basis with the establishment of an organizational-level support system.