The effects of spiritual care intervention on spiritual well-being, loneliness, hope and life satisfaction of intensive care unit patients

Abstract

BackgroundThe intensive care unit is a place where patients try to cope with pain and question the meaning and purpose of life and spiritual needs emerge. ObjectiveThe present study was conducted to examine the effects of spiritual care interventions on the spiritual well-being, loneliness, hope, and life satisfaction of patients treated in intensive care. Research methodologyThe study was conducted in an intensive care unit as an interventional study with a randomized pre-test, post-test, and control group between September and December 2021. A total of 64 patients, 32 in the intervention group and 32 in the control group, were included in the sample. The patients in the intervention group received eight sessions (twice a week) of spiritual nursing interventions according to the Traditions-Reconciliation-Understandings-Searching-Teachers model in the intensive care unit, while the control group received routine nursing care. ResultsThe mean age of the participants was 63.53 ± 4.10 years in the intervention group and 63.37 ± 3.18 years in the control group. Most of the participants in both the intervention (59.4 %) and control (68.7 %) groups were female. Following the intervention, the findings showed that the intervention had positive effects on patients’ spiritual well-being (t = -10.382), loneliness (t = 13.635), hope (t = -10.440), and life satisfaction (t = -10.480) levels (p < 0.001). ConclusionsIt was found that the spiritual care provided in the intensive care unit positively affected patients’ spiritual well-being, hope, loneliness, and life satisfaction levels. It can be recommended that nurses working in intensive care develop a spiritually supportive environment by addressing the spiritual issues of patients and their relatives and using existing spiritual care services. Implications for clinical practiceIntensive care nurses should provide an environment and nursing care that meet their patients’ spiritual needs. Spiritual care can be given to improve spiritual well-being, hope, and life satisfaction levels and to alleviate loneliness in intensive care patients.