Spirituality in Nursing Education: Are We Teaching Our Students to Provide Spiritual Care?

Nurses are mandated by accreditation organizations such as Joint Commission to address spiritual aspects of the patients. This makes it paramount to insure that holistic care is clearly addressed within the curriculum.  The presenters conducted a qualitative study 3 years ago to determine if students felt they were receiving education to equip them with the knowledge to provide spiritual care. The study queried students from the RN-BSN program, the Traditional Undergraduate program, and the graduate program at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) School of Nursing through the review of entries within a journaling network. This study was the first level for future studies to determine where the gap exists regarding spiritual care.  The second layer of research was to determine if practicing nurses (including nurse practitioners) provided spiritual care, their comfort level in providing spiritual care, and their belief their nursing education program covered spirituality care. These studies provided the foundational framework for a third study to consider if and where spiritual care was positioned within their curriculum. This study carefully reviewed the types of faculty members as it related to what type of spirituality content was presented within a curriculum.  Along with this information, attention was given to identifying key spirituality skills that are used within different schools. This project will lay the foundation for additional work in this region of Texas and beyond.