Caring for the spiritual needs of the sick in nursing practice

Growing scientific evidence confirms that spirituality and religion have a beneficial effect on human health.

It is therefore very important that we approach the spiritual and religious needs of individuals in health care practice with great care, knowledge, sensitivity and care.

Holistic, patient-centred care should also include care for the spiritual dimension. It should be based on scientific evidence, on basic knowledge of spirituality, religiosity, its positive and negative effects on health, based on the skills required for the assessment, clinical decision making and problem solving during the delivery of daily care.

The aim of the monograph is a comprehensive and systematic treatment of the issues of spirituality and religiosity – from the definition of theoretical foundations through the interpretation of scientific research results to implications in clinical practice.

The monograph defines the concepts related to religion and spirituality, describes spiritual and religious experiences, selected measurement tools used in clinical research, age-specific features of spirituality and religiosity, and justifies specific interventions aimed at meeting the spiritual and religious needs of patients in everyday clinical practice.

The scientific monograph is primarily addressed to the professional community from different scientific fields (nursing, medicine, health psychology) dealing with psycho-social and spiritual aspects of health and illness, including the provision of care.