Nursing professionals’ education on the spiritual dimension of critical patients

ABSTRACT Objective To describe and analyze the nursing professionals’ education on the spiritual dimension of critically ill patients. Methodology A qualitative, descriptive, exploratory study, using the Thematic Oral History as a framework. Fourteen nursing professionals from a teachinghospital in the city of São Paulo participated in the study from March to April 2021. The professionals were interviewed by following a script of questions and their speeches were transcribed, transcreated and submitted to Bardin’s content analysis, in the thematic modality. Results Three categories emerged from the analysis of the narratives: Concept of spirituality; Spirituality in Nursing education and Spirituality in the intensive care unit. Conclusion Nursing practice in assisting critical patients’ spiritual dimension is based on their religious practices and professional experiences, because the theme is not part of the basic curriculum in nursing education, whether at a technical or at an academic level.