Nurses’ attitude toward spiritual care – a scoping review

Abstract In this paper, the nurses’ attitude toward spirituality and spiritual care is explored. Spirituality constitutes a widely discussed topic in nursing and several guidelines have emerged. However, spirituality remains contentious and spiritual care is rarely provided on a regular basis. Inquiring into nurses’ attitudes toward spirituality and spiritual care can be illuminating to improve the current situation. A scoping review according to Whittemore & Knafl (2005) was conducted in the databases Medline/PubMed and Google Scholar, as well as a hand search. A total of 42 publications from between 2000 and 2019 were identified, and critically appraised using reporting guidelines. For nurses, spirituality is necessary. Spirituality is inherent in nursing. Fears and apprehensions exist about addressing spirituality in nursing practice and providing spiritual care for patients. Ambiguous attitudes toward spirituality, lack of education and adequate language to address spirituality, limited recognition and lack of adequate structures are all contributing factors to these fears. Although spirituality is considered an important aspect of nursing, several impeding factors prevent addressing it in practice. Reflective practice, education and supporting structures promoting recognition are needed to improve the situation.