Experiences Related to Patients and Families’ Expression of Spiritual Needs or Spiritual Support Within Healthcare Settings During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Scoping Review

Abstract

The aim of this review was to explore the evidence surrounding patients and families’ expression of spirituality, spiritual needs or spiritual support within healthcare settings during the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of nursing practice. While there is a plethora of research and publications related to COVID-19 and there are reports of increasing attention to nurses’ psychological distress, there is little understanding of experiences related to patients’ expression of spirituality, spiritual needs or spiritual support within healthcare settings during the COVID-19 pandemic. A scoping review was conducted to search and select potential studies and undertake data extraction and synthesis. Twenty-one studies published between March 2020 and August 2021 were identified. Themes and subthemes that emerged from analysis of the studies included spiritual needs, new awareness of spiritual needs and spiritual interventions, chaplaincy referrals, and improved well-being. The potential requirement for spiritual care during these times has anecdotally never been greater. At the same time the existent ethical challenges persist, and nurses remain reticent about the topic of spirituality. This is evident from the clear lack of attention to this domain within the published nursing literature and a limited focus on spiritual care interventions or the experiences and spiritual needs of patients and their families. Greater attention is needed internationally to improve nurses’ competence to provide spiritual care and to develop and advance nursing and research practice in the field of spiritual care.

Relationships Between the Number of Chaplain Visits and Patient Characteristics: A Retrospective Review of a Large Suburban Midwest Hospital, USA

“…When chaplaincy visits do occur, a high proportion begin through nurse-initiated chaplain referrals (Handzo et al, 2008 and Galek et al, 2009 ), which may be attributable to nurses’ potential discomfort and/or unfamiliarity with addressing spiritual concerns directly (Connolly & Timmins, 2022 ). Thus, patients’ primary reasons to be admitted to the hospital (e.g., emergency), as well as reasons for chaplaincy visit (e.g., referral, self-harm support), should be taken into account.…”