Recognizing Spirituality

Spirituality as a universal concept: Student experience of learning about spirituality through the medium of art

Precise definitions of spirituality can be elusive (McSherry, 2000). This factor together with the increasing class sizes for undergraduate nursing students render the teaching and learning of spirituality in nursing a challenge for both lecturers and students alike (McSherry, 2000). This paper reports on the design, delivery and evaluation of an innovative spirituality program for second year nursing students attending a Bachelor of Science degree at a university in the Republic of Ireland. This teaching program was introduced in 2005 to enhance nursing students' engagement with the concept of spirituality. The program consisted of a series of lectures on the topic, followed by a visit to the National Gallery of Ireland. The latter involved a structured visit, whereby the students (n=100) were divided into ten small groups and asked to wander through a section of the gallery and choose a piece of art work that they perceived to be spiritual in nature. Students were then asked to write their subjective impressions and reasons for their choice of painting. A list of themes related to spirituality was provided to the students as a prompt. Students later visited the paintings with both a lecturer and an art gallery guide and their chosen paintings were discussed within the group. Later that day, purposive sampling was used, whereby a selection of nursing students participating in the Gallery visit (n=21) partook in four recorded focus group interviews following the Gallery visit. Themes emerging from the interviews pertained to the universal and individual nature of spirituality. In keeping with Mc Sherry's (2000:27) definition of spirituality as a "universal concept relevant to all individuals", students in the study revealed their surprise at the uniqueness of their colleague's interpretations. The teaching methodology offered them an opportunity to reflect upon their own understandings and develop a deeper awareness of the meaning of spirituality. It also allowed many of them to understand how spirituality transcends traditional religions and permitted many of them to verbalize their feelings on spirituality for the first time.

Relationship of nurses? spirituality to their understanding and practice of spiritual care

AIM

This paper reports a study to examine the relationship of nurses' spirituality to their understanding and practice of spiritual care.

BACKGROUND

Continued debate surrounds the concept, practice and teaching of spirituality, highlighting the complexity and importance of understanding spirituality and the delivery of spiritual care. Spirituality is defined in this study as the relationship with the self and a dimension beyond the self.

METHOD

A convenience sample of 61 nurses from a part-time Bachelor of Science degree programme in nursing in Hong Kong, more than half of whom reported their religious affiliations, completed a newly developed, 27-item five-point Likert scale questionnaire. The data were collected in 2002. Descriptive statistics were calculated. Correlations were used to determine relationships among self, understanding and practices of spiritual care. The Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to examine differences between demographic variables and spirituality, understanding and practices of spiritual care. Multiple linear regression was used to determine factors contributing to understanding and practices of spiritual care.

FINDINGS

A positive statistically significant correlation was found between self and the following three variables: dimension beyond self (r=0.35, P<0.001), understanding of spiritual care (r=0 x 57, P<0 x 001), and practice of spiritual care (r=0 x 26, P<0 x 05). The relative contributions of self to understanding (beta=1 x 06, |t|=10 x 74, P<0.001) and practice of spiritual care (beta=0 x 68, |t| = 3 x 62, P=0 x 001) were statistically significant. There was no statistically significance difference between any of the demographic variables and understanding and practice of spiritual care, except for a negative relationship between religious affiliations and the dimension beyond self (P<0 x 001).

CONCLUSION

Through continuously seeking self-awareness and connecting to a dimension beyond the self for inner resource, the contented whole self will be able to provide spiritual care.

The meaning of spiritual care in a pediatric setting

In the previous issue of the Journal of Pediatric Nursing, one type of evidence-based practice (EBP) format was provided for potential nurse scholars who utilize the EBP process [MacPhee, M. (2002). Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 17(4);313-20]. There are, however, many potential formats to present evidence-based clinical practice innovations. I am eager to work with nurses who have been involved in promoting evidence-based nursing practice. The Journal of Pediatric Nursing will use this column as a forum for sharing evidence-based clinical practice innovations, such as case studies, clinical teaching exemplars, and interdisciplinary programs highlighting collaborative practice among nurses and other health care professionals. Please contact me at maura80521@yahoo.com for editorial advice and assistance. The following article is a clinical contribution from a nurse on the Neurosurgery-Rehabilitation Unit of The Children's Hospital, Denver. This evidence-based clinical project evolved from a nurse's recognition of the importance of spiritual care for families of children with serious brain injuries. It is an example of how an EBP formula can facilitate change and innovation. Start with a clinical problem; get help; look to the literature for best research evidence; look to other clinical sources for best practice ideas; evaluate what you have; and make a decision to maintain the status quo, gather more data, or change practice. This clinical project is an example of the collaborative, interdisciplinary nature of EBP, and it is also an example of the collaborative work among differently skilled nurses. In this instance, a clinically based nurse identified a practice problem and recruited a nurse researcher to help design, analyze, and evaluate the findings from an interview study. The results are being implemented via nursing leadership to change practice.