Henceforth, this term is open to interpretation. There seems to be no single agreed definition of spiritual care in the nursing literature. Halifax points out that we need to explore ways of being with the dying that can serve both the care giver and the dying person practically and spiritually. Nevertheless, many healthcare professionals report a lack of skills in psychosocial and spiritual care of dying people resulting in high levels of moral distress, grief and burnout. Research indicates that a significant number of terminally ill patients experiencing spiritual and/or existential issues long for adequate spiritual or existential care and counseling. As a basic category of care, the concept of suffering comprises the dying patient’s whole experience of life, health and illness in a physical, mental and spiritual sense. Easing and alleviating suffering are at the heart of nursing. Western society’s fast-paced healthcare environment conditions us to view death as a physiological event and a failure rather than a natural part of the human lifecycle and a sacred passage of a life. Bearing witness, listening and staying present as the patients’ suffering unfolds can be emotionally challenging because it exposes the nurses to their own vulnerability and finitude. By connecting deeply with patients and their families, nurses have the possibility to affirm the patients’ strength and facilitate their courage to live a meaningful life and die a dignified death.īeing with dying people is an integral part of nursing, yet many nurses feel unprepared to accompany people through the process of dying. Nurses have a potential to alleviate existential and spiritual suffering through consoling presence. ConclusionsĬonsoling existential and spiritual distress is a deeply personal and relational practice. ![]() The key spiritual and existential care themes identified, were sensing existential and spiritual distress, tuning inn and opening up, sensing the atmosphere in the room, being moved and touched, and consoling through silence, conversation and religious consolation. Data analysis was conducted using phenomenological hermeneutical method. Hospice nurses were interviewed individually and asked to narrate about their experiences with giving spiritual and existential care to terminally ill hospice patients. ![]() The aim of this study is to describe the meaning of hospice nurses’ lived experience with alleviating dying patients’ spiritual and existential suffering. Being with dying people is an integral part of nursing, yet many nurses feel unprepared to accompany people through the process of dying, reporting a lack of skills in psychosocial and spiritual care, resulting in high levels of moral distress, grief and burnout.
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