Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Oct 1;55(10):23-33.
doi: 10.1097/NSG.0000000000000217. Epub 2025 Sep 22.

Supporting religion and spirituality at the bedside

Affiliations

Supporting religion and spirituality at the bedside

Karilee W Bingham et al. Nursing. .

Abstract

Spirituality is an integral part of patient-centered care: Inclusive nursing, which encompasses assessing and responding to patients' spiritual needs, can improve patient outcomes. It is important to determine a patient's religion and spirituality at the beginning of care because this may affect how a patient wishes to be treated. In support of patients' spirituality, hospital chaplains are experts in providing spiritual care to patients, families, and staff. This article discusses the role of hospital chaplains and central aspects of different religious beliefs, with the aim of better equipping nurses to support patients' spiritual needs across diverse backgrounds.

Keywords: healthcare; hospital chaplain; inclusive nursing; patient-centered care; religion; spirituality.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. International Council of Nurses. The ICN Code of Ethics for Nurses. 2021. www.icn.ch/sites/default/files/2023-06/ICN_Code-of-Ethics_EN_Web.pdf. Accessed February 19, 2025.
    1. American Nurses Association. Code of Ethics for Nurses. 2015. www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/nursing-excellence/ethics/code-of-e.... Accessed February 19, 2025.
    1. Borges CC, Dos Santos PR, Alves PM, et al. Association between spirituality/religiousness and quality of life among healthy adults: a systematic review. Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2021;19(1):246.
    1. Gschwandtner CM. Faith, religion, and spirituality: a phenomenological and hermeneutic contribution to parsing the distinctions. Religions. 2021;12(7):476.
    1. Paul Victor CG, Treschuk JV. Critical literature review on the definition clarity of the concept of faith, religion, and spirituality. J Holist Nurs. 2020;38(1):107–113.

LinkOut - more resources