Spirituality

Spirituality is an essential and dynamic human phenomenon. It influences your life and the lives of those you interact with, whether you are aware of it or not. Spirituality is a human experience which is profoundly subjective and mysterious. As a nurse working with people with chronic and complex needs you will encounter spirituality flowing through people's lives and experiences of illness, suffering and wellbeing. As evidenced throughout this book, practice is best founded on principles rather than casks. In order to assist you to negotiate the concepts of chis chapter, some guiding principles for practice are given below and integrated into the discussion. There is a need for nurses to be: spiritually self-aware; informed of the current best-practice in spiritual care; and, sensitive to diverse spiritual needs and expressions