Spiritual needs and interventions: comparing the views of patients, nurses, and chaplains

Because of the current trend to use the term spiritual in a broad context that includes religious aspects as a component, along with others such as transcendence and relational aspects, it is essential to clarify what people mean when they use the term. The researchers designed a descriptive (qualitative) study to collect interview data to determine how patients, nurses, and chaplains currently are defining the phrases spiritual needs and spiritual interventions. The researcher interviewed and recorded the responses of 19 surgical patients, 12 nurses, and 7 chaplains to identify their definitions and the specific interventions they thought nurses and chaplains should use to meet spiritual needs. The interviews were analyzed and definitions of spiritual needs were classified according to six categories: religious, values, relationships, transcendence, affective feeling, and communication. Respondents identified five common nursing interventions: prayer, scripture, presence, listening, and referral.