Registered nurses' experiences of meeting patients' spiritual needs in a hospital setting in Peru

Abstract: Background Spirituality is within into every person even though the spiritual experience is always individual. Well-being and happiness are related to the amount of spirituality influencingone’s life. Patients spiritual distress and needs often emerge from their experience of suffering. Acknowledging patients’ spirituality needs, and possessing skills to meet suchneeds, are crucial to provide holistic care; unmet spiritual needs can could increase patient ́s suffering. Spiritual care is included in registered nurses’ responsibility, althoughthe focus and involvement of spiritual care, depends on their personal experiences. Aim The aim was to examine registered nurses’ experiences of meeting patients’ spiritual needsin a hospital setting in Peru. Method A qualitative design was performed with semi-structured interviews. Nine registered nurses were interviewed, the collected data was analysed with a qualitative content analysis. Findings Three categories were found in the analysis; Recognition of professional responsibilities in providing spiritual care, Integrating spiritual care into clinical practice and Impact of spiritual care. The findings show how holding a holistic view impacted the delivery of spiritual care. Conclusion It is difficult to use specific strategies to meet spiritual needs since needs areindividual. Meeting spiritual needs must always be done with respect for the patients’ waysof expressing their spirituality. Being available and listening are important elements ofmeeting patients’ spiritual needs. Spiritual care is recognised as an inseparable part ofholistic care and the involvement of spiritual care is essential for patients healing.