Award Date

1-1-1997

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)

Department

Nursing

First Committee Member

Susan Rush Michael

Number of Pages

119

Abstract

This study replicated Finney's (1989) study which examined acutely ill hospitalized patients' perceptions of spiritual needs and the nurse's role in assisting them to resolve those needs. The Spiritual Needs of Patients questionnaire (Martin, Burrows, & Pomilio, 1976) was used to assess patients (n = 73) in a southwestern regional hospital. Reliability was reported as Cronbach's alpha at 0.68. Findings supported Finney's study as well as the original study (Martin et al., 1976) and Hoskins (1986). Patients' responses supported the statement that a person who is ill thinks more about his/her relationship to God. The most important spiritual need identified was "knowledge of God's presence," with "sacraments and communion" being identified as the least important. Respondents supported spiritual nursing interventions including nurses asking patients if they wish to see a clergy person, giving spiritual care by being concerned, cheerful, and kind, sitting down and listening, and encouraging a patient to talk about anything that is bothering him/her. A Mann-Whitney U test was performed to determine differences between demographic groups in regard to spiritual care. Only ages 50-69 compared with 70-91 showed any significant difference with a z score of {dollar}-{dollar}2.021, p = 0.04.

Keywords

Nurses; Patient; Perceptions; Resolve; Role; Spiritual

Controlled Subject

Nursing; Religion

File Format

pdf

File Size

3112.96 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

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