An exploratory study into the processes nurses employ to recognise the spiritual needs of clients with psychosis

The NHS sets out to provide holistic care; included under this is a consideration of
clients' spiritual needs. However, the area of spirituality and mental health is underresearched
and there is a concern that spiritual needs are not being met. Traditionally
spirituality has been subsumed under the umbrella of religion, but recently there has been
an emerging field of literature dedicated to the study of spirituality as a concept in its own
right. Although a handful of studies have examined the way in which nurses recognise
and meet the spiritual needs of their clients, to date no study has researched the processes
at play in a client group with psychosis. Furthermore, no study has analysed the
influences that nurses' own beliefs have on this process.
This study employs an interview format and qualitative analysis to examine these
processes. The main findings are that nurses define spirituality in individual ways, with
some equating it with religion and others separating the concepts. These definitions
inform the ways in which they recognise and meet spiritual needs in clients with
psychosis. Because beliefs are so personal and because one of the nurse's primary
therapeutic tools is the self, their beliefs inevitably influence the ways in which they meet
the spiritual needs of their clients with psychosis. This may have the result that some
clients' spiritual needs are going unmet and amongst the recommendations are
suggestions for raising awareness about spirituality in nurses.

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