Spiritual care experiences by cancer patients, their family caregivers and healthcare team members in oncology practice settings: A qualitative study

Purpose Integrating spirituality into the patient care within a healthcare team, increases the ability to provide “holistic care” for cancer patients. The spiritual care experiences of different involved persons can be a guide for future planning. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the spiritual care experiences of hospitalized cancer patients, their family caregivers and healthcare team members in oncology settings. Methods This is a descriptive qualitative study which was conducted with 21 participants, who were selected by purposive sampling. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect the data. The data were analyzed with conventional content analysis method. Results Two themes of "systematic care" and "caring with paradoxical results" were extracted from the spiritual care experiences of our participants. Conclusions Spiritual care as professional, comprehensive, collaborative and artistic care should be provided in a multidisciplinary healthcare team for cancer patients. Otherwise, patients may experience deprivation of spiritual services and consequently, spiritual distress.