Pediatric Nurses' Perspectives of Integrating Spiritual Care Into Everyday Practice: An Integrative Review

Abstract

Aim: To explore nurses' perspectives regarding children's spiritual care in pediatric healthcare settings.

Background: Spiritual care is a fundamental source of comfort and healing and an essential component of nursing practice. However, pediatric nurses often lack the competence and confidence to incorporate spiritual care into their clinical routines. Despite its importance, the perceptions and practices of pediatric nurses across various clinical specialties regarding spiritual care remain underexplored in current literature.

Methods: The integrative review methodology was chosen to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date synthesis of the literature. Four electronic databases (CINAHL, MEDLINE, Scopus and Google Scholar) were used to search for relevant manuscripts. These studies were critically appraised by the three nursing academics using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool, Version 2018. Themes were subsequently generated following Braun and Clarke's (2022) thematic analysis framework.

Results: Eight manuscripts were selected. Thematic analysis generated three themes: spiritual care practices, barriers to spiritual care and nurses' inner spirituality.

Conclusion: Providing spiritual care is a fundamental element of holistic care. Nurses achieve this by respecting family values, culture, rituals, traditions and facilitating opportunities for spiritual expression, however many nurses experience a sense of incompetence in delivering spiritual care. Barriers such as heavy workloads and insufficient formal education impair the effective delivery of spiritual care.

Implication to practice: Healthcare organisations should provide structured training and clear guidelines to help nurses deliver culturally sensitive and age-appropriate spiritual care. Supporting nurses' spiritual well-being also requires a committed, system-wide approach to foster resilience and a supportive work environment.