Spiritual care activities of nurses using Nursing Interventions Classification (NIC) labels

Abstract

Purpose: To describe the spiritual care activities of nurses as subsequently identified in the Nursing Interventions Classification (NIC) labels.

Methods: Data were taken from a larger study that used a multiple triangulation research design to describe spiritual perspectives, interventions, and attitudes of 1,000 Sigma Theta Tau International members. Data analysis included descriptive and multivariate statistics for quantitative items, and content analysis for responses to questions.

Findings: 97 respondents reported providing 32 spiritual care activities. Ten NIC labels actually mapped the nurses' spiritual care activities.

Conclusions: Spiritual care activities involve a broad spectrum of interventions that may be unique to each patient. The 32 spiritual care activities described by the nurses provide new knowledge regarding core spiritual care activities. The use of NIC labels can facilitate documentation of spiritual care activities in diverse practice settings.

Practice implications: This study supports greater specificity in describing spiritual care interventions to a level that allows replication and advancement of knowledge.