Sammanfattning
Background: Patients with mental health problems often have spiritual quests, and addressing their spiritual needs may be of significance for their recovery. There is limited empirical data on spirituality from mental health care in Norway.
Aim: To gain insight on nurses’ views on spirituality and their experiences concerning spiritual care for patients with mental health problems.
Method: In-depth interviews with seven nurses in mental health care. Data were analyzed hermeneutically.
Results: The nurses experience spirituality as a difficult topic in mental health care as;
(1) Spirituality is a complex and subjective phenomenon; it is difficult to relate to in clinical practice and cannot be singled out as a separate domain. (2) Spirituality is a non-topic in clinical practice, and there is little acknowledgement of patients’ spiritual needs. Diversity in personal spiritual beliefs makes the topic challenging.
Conclusion: There is need for more professional focus on spirituality in clinical nursing practice in mental health care.