Palliative care: a case study and reflections on some spiritual issues

Being aware of notions of spirituality and ethnicity are perhaps at no time as important in nursing as at the end of a patient's life. This paper reflects on a case study of a patient receiving palliative care who was a nurse from Africa. One key reflection that arose from this case is 'what is spirituality?' How this is expressed is a dynamic process, and cannot necessarily be captured by a one-off question and answer session. The following case study highlights that what we want at the end of life, or may think we would want is not at all fixed. Therefore, nurses caring for dying patients need to be open-minded, and check regularly that the patient's chosen pathway is being followed. Also, there must be space for patients to change their minds. Tools are available and might be usefully adapted to suit individual patients' needs.