Spiritual care rendered by registered nurses at a state hospital in Windhoek Namibia

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the spiritual care rendered by nurses to hospitalized patients and its effectiveness at a state hospital in Windhoek, Namibia. The objectives of this study were to assess the understanding of registered nurses on spiritual care, describe spiritual care given to patients by registered nurses and to determine the effectiveness of spiritual care given to patients by registered nurses. A quantitative descriptive research design was used for this study to survey the registered nurses. Data were collected using the closed ended questions questionnaires. The target population was 40 registered nurses on duty. 40 questionnaires were distributed to participants and 32 (80%) questionnaires were returned and analyzed. Data are presented in tables and figures. The findings of this study show that registered nurses do understand the importance of spiritual care to patient's wellbeing. Nurses understand that the spiritual care is part of holistic care. They understand that it is their role to render spiritual care as part of holistic care. However, the findings of this study shows that nurses rarely render spiritual care to patients.