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The individual nature of information required by hospitalized patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) has been of concern to nurses for over 20 years. An information need is not necessarily a gap in knowledge that can be satisfied by education. It represents what the patient wants to know from the professional in order to cope effectively with the current situation. Through analysis of available literature, it seems that patients appear to prioritize information that is pertinent to survival, such as symptom management, rather than broader lifestyle issues such as exercise and diet. Although information needs are individual and subjective to each patient, trends emerge within patient groups. Information needs of patients with CHD in coronary care unit and ward setting occur across eight or more common areas. Through patient-centred communication, patients' f preferences for information in these topics can be derived and used as the basis for information delivery. Individual idiosyncratic needs can also be noted and addressed.

Healthcare chaplains operate in many healthcare sites internationally and yet their contribution is not always clearly understood by medical and healthcare staff. This review aims to explore the chaplains' role in healthcare, with a view to informing best practice in future healthcare chaplaincy. Overall the extent of the provision and staffing of chaplaincy service internationally is unclear. From this review, several key spiritual and pastoral roles in healthcare emerge including a potential contribution to ethical decision making at the end of life. Healthcare chaplains are key personnel, already employed in many healthcare organizations, who are in a pivotal position to contribute to future developments of faith-based care, faith-sensitive pastoral, and spiritual care provision. They also have a new and evolving role in ethical support of patient, families and healthcare teams.

Dysphagia, dysgeusia, oral mucositis and xerostomia negatively affected the patients' quality of life throughout the period of treatment. The patients' nutritional symptom experiences do not occur in isolation. Therefore, acknowledging the patients' eating difficulties and challenges can guarantee appropriate management and support to best manage symptoms in a timely manner.

This study highlights current gaps in knowledge, understanding and reporting of mixed-methods research. While these methods are useful to gain insight into clinical problems nurses lack guidance with this type of research. This study revealed that the guidance provided by current mixed-methods research is inconsistent and incomplete and this compounds the lack of available direction. There is an urgent need to develop robust guidelines for using mixed-methods research so that findings may be critically implemented in practice.

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Spirituality is a complex concept that has different meanings for different people. Spiritual care is a fundamental aspect of nursing and attending to the spiritual needs of patients may improve their health outcomes. This article, the first in a series of three, explores various definitions of spirituality, and the importance of spirituality and spiritual care in healthcare settings. The second article of this series provides an in-depth exploration of the assessment of patients' spiritual care needs, and the third and final article in this short series discusses spiritual care nursing interventions.