Community Health Nurses' Spirituality Shapes Their Practice Working With Indigenous Communities in British Columbia, Canada.

Abstract

Common conceptions of spirituality in nursing often concentrate on nurses providing spiritual care, but there is insufficient research indicating how nurses' spirituality impacts their nursing practice. This study examines how Indigenous and non-Indigenous community health nurses' experiences of spirituality, regardless of any religious affiliation, shape their nursing practice with Indigenous communities. Results indicate that spirituality is a pervasive nursing ethic manifesting respect, connectedness, love, acceptance, caring, hope, endurance, and compassion toward clients. Participants' experiences of spirituality promote self-awareness, open-mindedness, and acceptance of others and encourage participants' reflexivity, which grounds their nursing practice. Nurses' spiritual awareness fosters an appreciation for Indigenous community healing, leading to more reciprocal interactions with community members. Significantly, these participants provide care spiritually; they do not provide spiritual care.