The concept of spiritual care in mental health nursing

Aim. In this paper we aim to clarify the issue of spiritual care in the con text of mental health nursing. Background. The concept of spirituality in nursing has received a. great de al of attention in recent years. However, despite many articles addressed t o the issue, spiritual care remains poorly understood amongst nursing profe ssionals and, as a result, spiritual needs are often neglected within the c ontext of health care. Methods. A series of focus groups was conducted to obtain the views of serv ice users, carers and mental health nursing professionals about the concept of spirituality and the provision of spiritual care in mental health nursi ng. Results. According to the views expressed in our focus groups, spiritual ca re relates to the acknowledgement of a person's sense of meaning and purpos e to life which may, or may not, be expressed through formal religious beli efs and practices. The concept of spiritual care was also associated with t he quality of interpersonal care in terms of the expression of love and com passion towards patients. Concerns were expressed that the ethos of mental health nursing and the atmosphere of care provision were becoming less pers onal, with increasing emphasis on the 'mechanics of nursing'. Conclusions. The perceived failure of service providers to attend adequatel y to this component of care may be symptomatic of a medical culture in whic h the more readily observable and measurable elements in care practice have assumed a prominence over the more subjective, deeply personal components. In order for staff to acknowledge these issues it is argued that a mure ho listic approach to care should be adopted, which would entail multidiscipli nary education in spiritual care.