SPIRITUALITY, COPING AND NURSING: AN INTEGRATIVE LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract

Objectives: to characterize the international scientific literature about spirituality as coping strategies in situations of serious illness and identify studies about coping strategies of disease through spirituality and its importance to nursing. Methodology: this is about an integrative literature review study accomplished in the databases HighWire, ISI Knowledge and Scopus in the last ten years (2000-2010) during the month of September 2010, using the keywords "coping, spirituality, nursing" associated. Results: the studies about spirituality and coping may provide for nurses and health care specialists a better understanding of how to help patients to face deseases, considering the religious, ideological and cultural needs of patients. Conclusion: of the 25 selected articles, two were in the database HighWire, two in ISI Knowledge and 21 in Scopus. The qualitative research prevailed (13 articles), followed by the descriptive (four) and reflective (three). The popularization of this theme in the health area and especially in nursing is of extreme importance for a more complete care to patients, since the knowledge that scope is very small and poorly publicized or assimilated by the nursing staff since his graduation until his practice. Descriptors: psychological adaptation; nursing; spirituality.