Spirituality in nursing care and attitudes of nurses of spirituality

UVOD: Duhovnost je onaj dio osobe koji daje smisao i svrhu čovjekovom životu. Vjera u višu silu može potaknuti nadu, potražiti rješenje i nadići tjelesna i svjesna ograničenja. Duhovnost je važan aspekt holističke skrbi koji se često zanemaruje pa se javljaju poteškoće u definiranju duhovnosti i zbunjenost oko toga kako je integrirati u njegu. Duhovna skrb u sestrinstvu važan je dio cjelokupne zdravstvene zaštite. Iako sestre mogu prepoznati duhovne potrebe svojih pacijenata, mnoge nisu sigurne kako na njih najbolje odgovoriti. U situacijama ugroze zdravlja i života javljaju se složene duhovne potrebe i pitanja koja pacijenti, u potrazi za odgovorima, upućuju i medicinskim sestrama. Stoga one koje su u izravnom kontaktu s takvim ranjivim pacijentima moraju biti obrazovane i pripremljene na pitanja pacijenata i njihovih obitelji kako bi udovoljile njihovim duhovnim potrebama. CILJ: Cilj ovog rada bio je opisati duhovnost u sestrinskoj praksi te poimanje i odnos prema duhovnoj skrbi u postupku provođenja zdravstvene njege. METODE: Provedena je istraživačka studija o percepciji medicisnkih sestara i stavova o duhovnosti. U sklopu ovog rada prikazat će se duhovnost, duhovna skrb te stavovi medicinskih sestara o duhovnosti. Uzorak sudionika činile su 402 osobe dobne skupine od 20 do 65 godina, a instrument su bila dva anketna upitnika za koje su dobivene dozvole samih autora. Upitnikom su se istražile sociodemografske karakteristike uzorka, ispitali su se stavovi medicinski sestara o duhovnosti i duhovnoj skrbi kao i osobno poimanje vjere. Podatci su obrađeni u Microsoft Excel programu te su rezultati prikazani deskriptivnom statistikom. REZULTATI: Provedeno je istraživanje na području cijele Hrvatske. Istraživanje je provedeno tijekom svibnja i lipnja 2021. godine putem Google Forms platforme. U studiju su bili uključeni samo zdravstveni radnici koji provode zdravstvenu njegu u svojim radnim jedinicama. Ovim se istraživanjem potvrdila teza da medicinske sestre povezuju duhovnost s cjelovitom skrbi, ali i dalje je upitna povezanost s provedbom kroz zdravstvenu njegu. Nadalje, potvrdila se također teza da medicinske sestre kroz formalno obrazovanje nisu dovoljno educirane o duhovnoj skrbi za pacijente, ali i dalje se pridaje velika važnost vjeri. ZAKLJUČAK: Ovim istraživanjem potvrdili su se postavljeni ciljevi, ali dobiveni podaci i dalje ostavljaju prostor za daljnja istraživanja u vidu duhovnosti i njene poveznice sa sestrinstvom kao i duhovne skrbi o kojoj se ionako jako malo priča i istražuje.INTRODUCTION: Spirituality is that part of a person that gives meaning and purpose to a person's life. Belief in a higher power can inspire hope, seek a solution, and transcend physical and conscious limitations. Spirituality is an important aspect of holistic care that is often overlooked, so there are difficulties in defining spirituality and confusion about how to integrate it into care. Spiritual care in nursing is an important part of overall health care. Although nurses can recognize the spiritual needs of their patients, many are unsure of how best to respond to them. In situations of threat to health and life, complex spiritual needs and questions arise patients, in search of answers, also ask nurses. Therefore, those who are in direct contact with such vulnerable patients must be educated and prepared for the questions of patients and their families to meet their spiritual needs. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this paper was to describe spirituality in nursing practice and the understanding and attitude towards spiritual care in the process of conducting health care. METHODS: A research study on nurses' perceptions and attitudes about spirituality was conducted. As part of this paper, spirituality, spiritual care and the attitudes of nurses about spirituality will be presented. The sample of participants consisted of 402 people aged 20 to 65 years, and the instrument was two questionnaires for which permission was obtained from the authors themselves. The questionnaire explored the sociodemographic characteristics of the sample, examined the attitudes of nurses about spirituality and spiritual care, as well as personal perceptions of religion. The data were processed in Microsoft Excel and the results are presented with descriptive statistics. RESULTS: A survey was conducted throughout Croatia. The survey was conducted during May and June 2021 via the Google Forms platform. Only health care workers who provide health care in their work units were included in the study. This research confirmed the thesis that nurses associate spirituality with holistic care, but the connection with implementation through health care is still questionable. Furthermore, the thesis that nurses through formal education are not sufficiently educated about spiritual care for patients has also been confirmed, but great importance is still attached to faith. CONCLUSION: This research confirmed the set goals, but the obtained data still leave room for further research in the form of spirituality and its connection with nursing as well as spiritual care, which is already very little talked about and researched