Providing spiritual care at the end of life: nurses’ roles and perspectives

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Abstract
Identifying and meeting patients’ spiritual needs is integral to nursing in end of life care. However, spirituality, spiritual care and assessment models are still not fully embedded across the UK. While nurses often collaborate with chaplains or other spiritual care professionals to support patients, ambiguity and misunderstanding between spirituality and religion can cause challenges in delivering effective, person-centred care. This article explores the role of spirituality in nursing practice and introduces structured reflections and practical tools to support spiritual care in end of life settings. It discusses the potential of the horizontal transcendence model as an existential and relational approach to exploring meaning, identity and connection at the end of life. Nurses can use this model to help patients and their families navigate spiritual needs in diverse and inclusive ways. By offering reflective prompts and an accessible, practice-oriented framework, the authors invite nurses to engage with their own understanding of spirituality and integrate this awareness into the provision of compassionate holistic care.

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