Religious and spiritual support in the conception of nurses and families of critical patients: a cross-sectional study

Nursing professionals' education on the spiritual dimension of critical patients

OBJECTIVE

To describe and analyze the nursing professionals' education on the spiritual dimension of critically ill patients.

METHODOLOGY

A qualitative, descriptive, exploratory study, using the Thematic Oral History as a framework. Fourteen nursing professionals from a teachinghospital in the city of São Paulo participated in the study from March to April 2021. The professionals were interviewed by following a script of questions and their speeches were transcribed, transcreated and submitted to Bardin's content analysis, in the thematic modality.

RESULTS

Three categories emerged from the analysis of the narratives: Concept of spirituality; Spirituality in Nursing education and Spirituality in the intensive care unit.

CONCLUSION

Nursing practice in assisting critical patients' spiritual dimension is based on their religious practices and professional experiences, because the theme is not part of the basic curriculum in nursing education, whether at a technical or at an academic level.

Benefits of Spiritual and Religious Support in the Pain Management of Cancer Patients: A Literature Scoping Review

Pain is one of the main symptoms of cancer and the most difficult to control due to its complexity as it can involve physical, psychological, social, and spiritual aspects. We proposed to summarize the scientific knowledge already published related to the influence of spirituality on pain therapy in cancer patients. Articles were searched in PubMed, SciELO, SciFinder, PsycInfo, and ScienceDirect databases using the following descriptors: "Spirituality," "Religion," "Religion," "Chronic Pain," "Pain Management" and "Cancer." A total of 68 articles were included and discussed. Most articles dealt with the influence of spirituality in palliative care, focussed on patient quality, and highlighted the importance of integrative oncology. Although few studies associated spirituality with chronic pain, most articles reported that spirituality could confer greater pain control.