Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Nurses’ Attitudes Towards Death and Their Effects on Spirituality and Spiritual Care

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Religion and Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the effect of nurses’ attitudes towards death on spirituality and spiritual care. This is a descriptive and correlational study. There was a moderate correlation between the total score on the Spirituality and Spiritual Care Rating Scale and the total and subdimension scores on the Attitude Towards Death Scale. It was found that the scores on the subdimensions of objective acceptance, escaping/acceptance and fear of death explained 41.7% of nurses’ perceptions of spirituality and spiritual care. For holistic nursing care, it is very important that nurses are aware of their patients’ spiritual needs and are capable of providing supportive spiritual service without regard for their own attitudes towards or spiritual thoughts about death.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aksu, T., & Okçay, H. (2010). Perception of death and nursing care based on the life period. Journal of the Fırat Health Services, 5(14), 113–126.

    Google Scholar 

  • Balboni, M. J., Sullivan, A., Amobi, A., et al. (2012). Why is spiritual care infrequent at the end of life? Spiritual care perceptions among patients, nurses, and physicians and the role of training. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 31(4), 461–467.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Balboni, M. J., Sullivan, A., Enzinger, A. C., et al. (2014). Nurse and physician barriers to spiritual care provision at the end of life. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 48(3), 400–410.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cevik, B., & Kav, S. (2013). Attitudes and experiences of nurses toward death and caring for dying patients in Turkey. Cancer Nursing, 36(6), E58–E65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chan, M. F. (2010). Factors affecting nursing staff in practising spiritual care. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 19(15–16), 2128–2136.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Eğlence, R., & Şimşek, N. (2014). Nurses spirituality and evaluation of information about spiritual care. Journal of the Acıbadem University of Health Sciences, 5(1), 48–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ergül, Ş., & Bayık, A. (2004). Nursing and spiritual care. Journal of Cumhuriyet University School of Nursing, 8(1), 37–45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ergül, Ş., & Bayık, A. (2007). Validity and reliability of the “Spirituality and Spiritual Care Rating Scale” Turkish version. Journal of Ege University School of Nursing, 23(1), 75–87.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gama, G., Barbosa, F., & Vieira, M. (2012). Factors influencing nurses’ attitudes toward death. International Journal of Palliative Nursing, 18(6), 267–273.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herlianita, R., Yen, M., Chen, C. H., Fetzer, S. J., & Lin, E. C. L. (2018). Perception of spirituality and spiritual care among Muslim nurses in Indonesia. Journal of Religion and Health, 57(2), 762–773.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Işık, E., Fadıloğlu, Ç., & Demir, Y. (2009). A study of the reliability and validity of the Turkish version of Death Attitude Profile-Revised (DAP-R) in the nurse population. Journal of Nursing Research Development, 11(2), 28–43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaur, D., Sambasivan, M., & Kumar, N. (2013). Effect of spiritual intelligence, emotional intelligence, psychological ownership and burnout on caring behaviour of nurses: A cross-sectional study. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 22(21–22), 3192–3202.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kostak, M. (2007). Spiritual aspects of nursing care. Journal of the Fırat Health Services, 6, 105–115.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kostak, M. A., Çelikkalp, Ü., & Demir, M. (2010). The opinions of nurses and midwifes about spirituality and spiritual care. Journal of Nursing Science & Art (Symposium Special Edition), 218–225.

  • Osório, I. H. S., Gonçalves, L. M., Pozzobon, P. M., et al. (2017). Effect of an educational intervention in “spirituality and health” on knowledge, attitudes, and skills of students in health-related areas: A controlled randomized trial. Medical Teacher, 39(10), 1057–1064.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peters, L., Cant, R., Payne, S., et al. (2013). How death anxiety impacts nurses’ caring for patients at the end of life: A review of literature. The Open Nursing Journal, 7(1), 14–21.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Phelps, A. C., Lauderdale, K. E., Alcorn, S., et al. (2012). Addressing spirituality within the care of patients at the end of life: Perspectives of patients with advanced cancer, oncologists, and oncology nurses. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 30(20), 2538–2544.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sarıtaş, S., Kavak, F., Sarıtaş, Ç. S., Mankan, T., & Polat, H. (2014). Nurses comments on the maintenance of spiritual care. Inonu University Journal of Health Sciences, 3(1), 21–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Slater, P. J., Edwards, R. M., & Badat, A. A. (2018). Evaluation of a staff well-being program in a pediatric oncology, hematology, and palliative care services group. Journal of Healthcare Leadership, 10, 67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swinton, M., Giacomini, M., Toledo, F., et al. (2017). Experiences and expressions of spirituality at the end of life in the intensive care unit. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 195(2), 198–204.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whitehead, P. B., Anderson, E. S., Redican, K. J., & Stratton, R. (2010). Studying the effects of the end-of-life nursing education consortium at the institutional level. Journal of Hospice & Palliative Nursing, 12(3), 184–193.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wong, P. T. P., Reker, G. T., & Gesser, G. (1994). Death Attitude Profile-Revised: A multidimensional measure of attitudes toward death. In R. A. Neimeyer (Ed.), Death anxiety handbook: Research, instrumentation, and application (pp. 121–148). Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yılmaz, M., & Okyay, N. (2009). The opinions of nurses about spirituality and spiritual care. Journal of Nursing Research Development, 3, 42–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zyga, S., Malliarou, M., Lavdaniti, M., Athanasopoulou, M., & Sarafis, P. (2011). Greek renal nurses’attitudes towards death. Journal of Renal Care, 37(2), 101–107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the elderly who took part in this study.

Funding

The author received no financial support for the research and/or authorship of this article.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Nursing, Dokuz Eylul University, Inciralti, 35340, Izmir, Turkey

    Aslı Akdeniz Kudubes, Murat Bektas & İlknur Bektas

  2. Day Chemotherapy Center, Balıkesir State Hospital, Balıkesir, Turkey

    Zülfiye Karakaş Akıl

Authors
  1. Aslı Akdeniz Kudubes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Zülfiye Karakaş Akıl
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Murat Bektas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. İlknur Bektas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Aslı Akdeniz Kudubes.

Ethics declarations

Conflicts of interest

The author declares no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Kudubes, A.A., Akıl, Z.K., Bektas, M. et al. Nurses’ Attitudes Towards Death and Their Effects on Spirituality and Spiritual Care. J Relig Health 60, 153–161 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-019-00927-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-019-00927-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation