A Phenomenological Study of Nurse Educators’ Concepts and Experiences in Spirituality and Spiritual Care
Abstract
Nurses are compelled to provide client-centered, holistic care that includes patient’s spiritual functioning as this aspect may influence the well being of the patient. Thus, involvement of spiritual care to patients should be acknowledged in nursing as a domain to give meaning into the lives of the people. A qualitative phenomenological research design was undertaken to explore the nurse educators’ understanding in spirituality and spiritual care as a baseline to categorically align it in the nursing curriculum to extend the learning of the students in strategies involving holistic care. The research setting was held in different universities in Metro Manila, Philippines that offers Bachelor of Science in Nursing and comprised a sample of 10 nurse educators’ for at least 3 years and spent almost 10 years as nurse practitioners. Data gathering includes interview that consists of semi-structured, open-ended questions that was formulated to elicit nurse educators’ responses. Interviews were conducted until saturation was met. By way of Colaizzi’s phenomenological data analysis, the ten respondents’ descriptions of their views and practices on spirituality and spiritual care were analyzed, explored and put together into themes. Six themes were theorized to render the basic structure of the concepts and experiences of spirituality and spiritual care. The personal spiritual belief of the respondents while they were students had a great impact on the way that they understood the concept of spirituality and the manner of the delivery of spiritual care that they provided. The study was able to determine that there is diversity on the understanding of spirituality of the nurse educators resulting to a vague apprehension of the meaning of spirituality and to some respondents; spirituality is a feeling that evokes trust and hope. Moreover, the study stemmed a limitation of emphasis in the nursing curriculum about the significance of spirituality in the concept of holistic care, thus, the nurse educators are not evident advocate being a role models to their students, likewise, it is essential for nurse educators to enrich their understanding of spirituality, hence, their institution should adapt a platform through seminars or activities that would heighten spiritual holistic care.
Key words: Nurse Educators, Nursing Curriculum, Spirituality, Spiritual Care
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