Spirituality as a core concept in the theoretical literature of nursing: A comparative overview between Watson & Lovering's perspectives

A scoping review of health models for the community mental health needs of the United Arab Emirates: Nurturing the social determinants of mental health through social prescribing in the Middle East

Despite the growing interest in social prescribing the diversification of health and social care strategies to support the well-being of patients has remained entrenched with a focus on the hospital setting within the Middle East. The United Arab Emirates has commenced progressing community mental health care to lead changes in how care and treatment are delivered within the United Arab Emirates. The authors adopted the use of the framework of Arksey and O'Malley (2005) to provide a systematic approach to searching the literature and creating a comprehensive foundation to guide the review. This scoping review provides a better understanding of the compatibility, content and outcomes of a selection of health models whilst also allowing further clarification before empirical studies. The scoping review findings will inform the proposed use of social prescribing as an actionable approach to create a focus on the need to include and empower the social determinants of mental health. This article proposes an evidence-based health strategy that supports and enhances recent additions to national legislation on the inclusion of the Mental Health Law within the United Arab Emirates to meditate and prevent inequities in addressing the mental health needs of citizens and residents within the nation's diverse communities.

Insights on spirituality and bereavement: A systematic review of qualitative studies

AIM

To describe a synthesis of the experience related to the spirituality of those living a bereavement journey in primary qualitative studies.

DESIGN

A systematic review of qualitative studies.

DATA SOURCE

A systematic review was carried out in March 2019 and was updated in January 2023. Searching was accomplished by an online database, such as CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, MedicLatina, LILACS, SciELO and Academic Search Complete. The search strategy did not consider a timeline as an eligibility criterion. The quality of the studies was assessed, and a thematic synthesis was performed in this review.

METHODS

A systematic review of qualitative studies was conducted according to Saini and Shlonsky's methodology.

REPORTING METHOD

PRISMA checklist.

RESULTS

The review included 33 articles. Most of the studies were phenomenological and focused on parents' and family experiences of bereavement. Seven significant categories emerged, which match unmet spiritual needs during the grieving process. Two major categories were identified regarding the role of spirituality in bereavement: Spirituality as a process and spirituality as an outcome.

CONCLUSION

In clinical practice, attention to spirituality and providing spiritual care is critical to guarantee a holistic approach for those experiencing bereavement.

IMPLICATIONS

The findings of our study could foster awareness that healthcare professionals should include the spiritual dimension in their clinical practice to provide holistic care to individuals, enhancing the healing process in bereavement.

NO PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION

This is a systematic review.

Gender as a Moderator of Spirituality and Spiritual Care in ICU Nurses During COVID-19 Pandemic

Background

Earlier research has found that female healthcare providers often report greater spirituality and spiritual care than males. This would evoke attention toward factors contributing to such differences, particularly gender.

Aim

To examine the moderating effects of gender on the relationships between demographic characteristics of ICU nurses and their perceived spirituality and spiritual care.

Methods

A cross-sectional correlational design was used to recruit a national sample of 865 nurses working in ICUs in Jordan and providing care to patients diagnosed with COVID-19. Data were collected using a self-report bilingual version of Spirituality and Spiritual Care Rating Scale (SSC) and analysed using the SPSS software package.

Results

Social status, monthly income, and receiving previous courses or lecture training on spirituality and spiritual care were predictors of higher SSCRS scores. Working with COVID-19 patients was a positive predictor (B = 0.074, p = 0.023), suggesting that working with COVID-19 patients is more likely to have a higher level of SSC. Gender was a negative predictor (B = -0.066, p = 0.046), suggesting that female participants are likelier to have a lower SSC score.

Conclusion

Working with patients during the COVID-19 pandemic positively impacted nurses' perception of SCC, but female nurses had lower score than male nurses indicating the need for more emphasis on training female nurses and exploring further the areas in which they need more training and to be able to provide an effective SSC. A sustainable up-to-date training and in-service education programs responding to nurses' needs and emerged emergencies crisis need to be integrated into nursing quality of care policy development.