Nurse Religiosity and Spiritual Care: An Online Survey

Elizabeth Johnston Taylor, Carla Gober-Park, Kathy Schoonover-Shoffner, Iris Mamier, Chintan K. Somaiya, Khaled Bahjri

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This study measured the frequency of nurse-provided spiritual care and how it is associated with various facets of nurse religiosity. Data were collected using an online survey accessed from the home page of the Journal of Christian Nursing. The survey included the Nurse Spiritual Care Therapeutics Scale, six scales quantifying facets of religiosity, and demographic and work-related items. Respondents (N = 358) indicated high religiosity yet reported neutral responses to items about sharing personal beliefs and tentativeness of belief. Findings suggested spiritual care was infrequent. Multivariate analysis showed prayer frequency, employer support of spiritual care, and non-White ethnicity were significantly associated with spiritual care frequency (adjusted R 2 =.10). Results not only provide an indication of spiritual care frequency but empirical encouragement for nurse managers to provide a supportive environment for spiritual care. Findings expose the reality that nurse religiosity is directly related, albeit weakly, to spiritual care frequency.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)636-652
Number of pages17
JournalClinical Nursing Research
Volume28
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 1 2019

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

  • General Nursing

Keywords

  • ethics
  • nurses
  • religion
  • spirituality

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