Abstract

Nurses deliver patient-centered care daily to end-of-life patients and provide emotional support for family members and significant others. Compassionate care that embraces the alleviation of suffering, the recognition of values and self-determination, and non-judgmentally provides support to the dying, is the distinctive feature of end-of-life care provided by nursing professionals. Therefore, like physical and mental health assessments that are provided by nursing professionals, spiritual health assessments must also be provided. Spiritual health encompasses an assessment of one’s experience of spiritual distress. Spiritual distress is the disturbance within values and belief systems that would otherwise be a source of hope and peace for the affected person(s). A spiritual health assessment, implemented during end-of-life care, can determine whether spiritual distress is absent or present. Upon the determination of the necessity of patients’ spiritual needs, interventions can be facilitated by the nurse and collaborating healthcare team members to address the patient’s spiritual needs(s), hence ensuring that patients can die peacefully.