The Unseen Self…Beyond The Recorded Eye! Integrating Spirituality into Nursing Education and Health care practices

Spiritually competent care could foster meaning making and self-efficacy, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, a need for developing a shared understanding through more explicit representation of spirituality in nursing education, research and practice ethos; has been voiced over last three decades. To construct spirituality in health education; a reflective framework, SOPHIE (Self-exploration through Ontological, Phenomenological, and Humanistic, Ideological, and Existential expressions) was developed by the researcher in 2017. SOPHIE, has been applied as a practice methodology during several teaching and mentoring sessions, across the COVID-pandemic 2020-2021. Reflective activities such as: art as an agency, poetry writing and practicing gratitude and mindfulness, were used to explore person’s spiritual and existential care needs. Participants were facilitated to explore moral values, existential quest and meaning making process to address their self-care needs. SOPHIE, as practice methodology; recognised the power of authenticity, self-awareness, intentionality, creativity and empowerment, as core domains of spiritual care. Acknowledging the scope of spirituality and existential care, in nursing education and health care practices, is highly recommended.

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