Spirituality in Patients at the End of Life—Is It Necessary? A Qualitative Approach to the Protagonists

E. Begoña García-Navarro, Alicia Medina-Ortega and Sonia García Navarro
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E. Begoña García-Navarro: Nursing Department, University of Huelva, 21007 Huelva, Spain
Alicia Medina-Ortega: Nursing Department, University of Huelva, 21007 Huelva, Spain
Sonia García Navarro: Nursing Department, University of Huelva, 21007 Huelva, Spain

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 19, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Spirituality is the most unknown aspect of palliative care despite being the need that is most altered in the last moments of life. Objective. To identify on the one hand the spiritual needs of patients who are at the end of life and on the other hand, the way in which nursing professionals can work to provide effective accompaniment in this process. Method. A qualitative study was conducted which applied different data collection techniques. This was done to describe the phenomenon from a holistic perspective in relation to experts’ perceptions of the competencies required by health professionals and palliative patients’ spiritual needs. Semi-structured interviews were conducted within both populations. In order to analyze the qualitative data collected through interviews, discourse was analyzed according to the Taylor–Bodgan model and processed using Atlas.ti software. Results. Three well-differentiated lines of argument are extracted from the discourse in each of the groups, on the one hand in the group of patients they define the concept of spirituality, system of values and beliefs, and the Factors that influence the spirituality of patients at the end of life (differentiating palliative care areas/other areas) and on the other, the professionals agree with the patients in the line of argument of concept of spirituality although they define more metaphysical categories and the other two lines of argument that result are the spiritual attention in this process and the need for formation in spirituality. Conclusions. The provision of spiritual care gives meaning to the actions of nursing professionals when it comes to providing end-of-life care, achieving holistic care, humanizing death, and promoting a dignified end.

Keywords: spirituality; palliative care; nursing skills; end-of-life (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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