For many patients confronted with chronic diseases, spirituality/religiosity is an important resource for coping. Patients often report unmet spiritual and existential needs, and spiritual support is also associated with better quality of life. Caring for spiritual, existential and psychosocial needs is not only relevant to patients at the end of their life but also to those suffering from long...

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES To determine to what degree the spiritual needs of patients near the end of life are met. DESIGN Descriptive. SETTING One inpatient and five outpatient hospices. SAMPLE 62 female and 38 male hospice patients with a mean age of 67 years; 74% were dying from cancer. METHODS Each subject completed the Spiritual Needs Inventory and rated life satisfaction via the Cantril ...

Healthcare literature suggests that many nurses fail to address patients' spiritual needs and/or identify signs of spiritual distress. A study was conducted to explore whether nurses in a medical center possessed the knowledge to assess patients' spirituality and design and implement a plan of spiritual care. The Spiritual Care Competence Scale was used to assess competence in spiritual care as...

The current study explored gender differences regarding spirituality by comparing the relative frequency with which male (n = 85) and female (n = 103) professional chaplains experience various facets of the spiritual experience. The women in the sample reported experiencing five of the seven spiritual constructs examined significantly more often than men, including the need for (1) belonging, (...

BACKGROUND Patients' spiritual needs increase drastically after a diagnosis of cancer because of its threatening nature. It is very important to recognize any spiritual crisis. This study aimed to determine needs among Iranian patients with cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS This crosssectional study was undertaken among 200 patients with cancer referred to Alinasab and Shahid Ghazi Tabatabaie hos...

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES To develop and test an instrument to measure the spiritual needs of patients near the end of life. DESIGN Instrumentation methodology. SETTING One inpatient and five outpatient hospices. SAMPLE 62 female and 38 male hospice patients with a mean age of 67 years; most were Caucasian, Protestant, and dying of cancer. METHODS Items for the Spiritual Needs Inventory (SNI) ...

PURPOSE For many patients confronted with chronic diseases, spirituality/religiosity is a relevant resource to cope. While most studies on patients' spiritual needs refer to the care of patients at the end of life, our intention was to develop an instrument to measure spiritual, existential and psychosocial need of patients with chronic diseases. METHODS In an anonymous cross-sectional survey...

Surveys suggest that most patients have a spiritual life and regard their spiritual health and physical health as equally important. Furthermore, people may have greater spiritual needs during illness. We reviewed published studies, meta-analyses, systematic reviews, and subject reviews that examined the association between religious involvement and spirituality and physical health, mental heal...

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES To determine what patients with cancer and primary family caregivers expect from nurses with regard to having their spiritual needs addressed. RESEARCH APPROACH Descriptive, cross-sectional, qualitative study using Miles and Huberman s approach to data reduction. SETTING Outpatient and inpatient settings in a county hospital and a comprehensive cancer center, both located...