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Extensive literature demonstrates that providing spiritual assistance in the context of palliative care is associated with several benefits, such as the reduction of anxiety, the improvement of the quality of life, the increase in coping skills and, more generally, the growth of general well-being. Despite the recognition of these benefits, healthcare professionals complain of difficulties in providing spiritual care. This contribution examines two of the main obstacles to the provision of spiritual care: on the one hand, the difficulties in identifying and applying valid tools from a methodological perspective; on the other, the development of adequate skills in the field of health professionals training. In conclusion, some recommendations are provided to overcome

Spiritual distress is an important component of holistic nursing practice. Internationally, nursing competency to care for patients in spiritual distress has not been well established (Kasar & Nacak, 2021). The goals of this project are to provide a high-level introduction to the concept of spiritual distress, provide a session to teach nurses to identify spiritual distress in oneself and others, and motivate nurses to continue their education on spiritual distress after the session. A 30-minute lunch time educational session was developed and piloted to all employee designations at St. Michael’s Health Centre in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. Data was collected from post-intervention surveys. Data analysis concluded that this educational intervention design was effective in educating learners on spiritual distress and that further education on this subject is desired.

Due to the advancement of organ transplant technology, more people are able to receive a second chance at life through organ donation. In 2019, the United States conducted close to 40,000 transplants and this represents close to 40,000 people experiencing various states of healthcare crisis. Chaplains have the opportunity, and responsibility, to care for the religious/spiritual well-being of these transplant patients and their caregivers as they navigate the unique processes and challenges that transplantation entails. It is the argument of this thesis that risk factors for spiritual distress in transplant populations need to be identified as early as possible, in order to minimize potential long-term impacts. This thesis also advocates for a Biblical response to common post-transplant risk factors—especially the impact of feelings of guilt and indebtedness towards the donor. While these reactions are common amongst transplant patients, research shows they are not reported consistently, and this has concerning implications for addressing a patient’s religious/spiritual well-being. Once someone receives an organ transplant, they are a transplant patient for the rest of their lives. It is critical to the overall health, functioning, and well-being of the patient that they are given the proper education, training, coping tools, and support to thrive with their new organ. Religious/spiritual care is an important component of transplant care that is often overshadowed by the intensive medical aspects of recovery and long-term transplant care. This thesis hopes o shed light on the unique challenges faced by transplant populations that are not widely addressed, because it is the position of this thesis that religious/spiritual distress symptoms kept in the dark and untreated are a hindrance to full recovery and healing after a life-saving transplant. Post-transplant care must focus on thriving after transplant, not merely physically surviving.

ContextSpiritual care is integral to quality palliative care. Although chaplains are uniquely trained to provide spiritual care, studies evaluating chaplains' work in palliative care are scarce.ObjectivesThe goals of this pre-post study, conducted among patients with advanced cancer receiving outpatient palliative care, were to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of chaplain-delivered spiritual care, utilizing the Spiritual Assessment and Intervention Model ("Spiritual AIM"), and to gather pilot data on Spiritual AIM's effects on spiritual well-being, religious and cancer-specific coping, and physical and psychological symptoms.MethodsPatients with advanced cancer (N = 31) who were receiving outpatient palliative care were assigned based on chaplains' and patients' outpatient schedules, to one of three professional chaplains for three individual Spiritual AIM sessions, conducted over the course of approximately six to eight weeks. Patients completed the following measures at baseline and post-intervention: Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale, Steinhauser Spirituality, Brief RCOPE, Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual (FACIT-Sp-12), Mini-Mental Adjustment to Cancer (Mini-MAC), Patient Dignity Inventory, Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (10 items), and Spielberger State Anxiety Inventory.ResultsFrom baseline to post-Spiritual AIM, significant increases were found on the FACIT-Sp-12 Faith subscale, the Mini-MAC Fighting Spirit subscale, and Mini-MAC Adaptive Coping factor. Two trends were observed, i.e., an increase in Positive religious coping on the Brief RCOPE and an increase in Fatalism (a subscale of the Mini-MAC).ConclusionSpiritual AIM, a brief chaplain-led intervention, holds potential to address spiritual needs and religious and general coping in patients with serious illnesses.

There is scarcity of documentation that seeks to define spirituality relating to holistic nursing; consequently, a literature review was formulated to define spirituality and guide nursing practice towards recognizing the importance of and implementation of spiritual care. By researching the current trends in peer-reviewed journals from the past three years and analyzing associated articles, this paper addresses the need for a comprehensive definition of spirituality. Key concepts such as belief, values, interconnectedness with self, others and God, energy, hope and transcendence will be analyzed, and the accumulated data will be complied into a framework that is easy for a nurse to understand and use. This thesis strives to validate the necessity of spiritual care through the mechanism of holistic nursing and equip nurses to assess and implement care for the ever-present spiritual needs of one’s patients.