Helga Martins1, Joana Romeiro2 & Silvia Caldeira3
1Helga Martins
Pos-doctoral Fellow at Integral Human Development Program, PhD, RN, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Doctoral School (CADOS). Faculty of Health Sciences and Nursing, Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Health, Lisbon, Portugal.
Instituto Politécnico de Beja, Escola Superior de Saúde. R. Dr. José Correia Maltez, 7800-111 Beja, Portugal.
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5804-7934
E-mail: hemartins@ucp.pt
2Joana Romeiro
Pos-doctoral Fellow at Integral Human Development Program, PhD, RN, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Doctoral School (CADOS). Faculty of Health Sciences and Nursing, Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Health, Lisbon, Portugal
ORCID: https://orcid.org/ 0000-0001-8867-2183
E-mail: jromeiro@ucp.pt
3Sílvia Caldeira
PhD, MSc, RN, Associate Professor, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Faculty of Health Sciences and Nursing, Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Health, Lisbon, Portugal.
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9804-2297
E-mail: scaldeira@ucp.pt
Investigating Spirituality in Nursing: A Guide to Research Methods
Spirituality is recognized as vital for patient health and healthcare practice, linked to connectedness, meaning, and transcendence. This literature review examines research methods used in nursing studies on spirituality. From 231 studies, 52.4% employed quantitative methods, mostly observational, with 98.7% using cross-sectional designs. Qualitative research, accounting for 42.8%, often used descriptive or phenomenological approaches. Mixed methods were rare (4.8%). The lack of longitudinal studies highlights a gap in understanding spirituality’s evolution over time, which is essential for effective spiritual care in nursing.
Abstract
Spirituality has been widely considered important for patients’ health and for healthcare practice and is related to connectedness, meaning in life, and transcendence. Research concerning spirituality is growing rapidly, and the implementation of spiritual care should be based on evidence. This literature review aims to describe the methods that have been used in nursing research focusing on spirituality. The electronic search on databases through EBSCOhost identified 2091 citations, and a total of 231 studies were included. The methods used in research on spirituality in nursing are mostly quantitative (52.4%), but some are qualitative (42.8%) and mixed (4.8%). Regarding the quantitative research, most studies are observational (90.9%), and these are mainly descriptive (82.7%) and correlational (17.3%). Most studies used a cross-sectional design (98.7%), and few used longitudinal designs (1.3%). The qualitative research is descriptive (39.4%), phenomenological (26.3%), and grounded theory (14.1%). Research on spirituality in nursing is based on both main paradigms (quantitative and qualitative), but also on mixed methods. Studies have mainly been conducted using cross-sectional designs when compared to longitudinal designs. The latter seem to constitute a gap in nursing knowledge and evidence regarding the changes of spirituality over time, which is particularly important for nurses’ delivery of spiritual care.
Keywords: nursing; research methods; review; spirituality
Full research paper available on the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/8/10/226
OpenEdition sugere que esta publicação seja citada da seguinte forma:
helgamartins (3 de Outubro de 2024). Investigating Spirituality in Nursing: A Guide to Research Methods. Desenvolvimento Humano Integral. Recuperado em 22 de Março de 2025 de https://doi.org/10.58079/12etz