Background

Nursing literature shows, that seriously ill cancer patients have a broad range of needs including those of existential and religious nature and nurses find it both important and difficult caring of patient's existential and religious needs. Research shows that physical needs have a higher priority than other needs, and patients experience that psychological, social and spiritual needs often are neglected.

Aim

1. To describe how nurses provide care of cancer patients' needs with a specific focus on spiritual concerns.

2. To understand what it means to cancer patients when existential as well as religious issues are integrated in the terminal care.

Method

The empirical data are generated through ethnographic fieldwork in two hospice settings. The fieldwork consists of participant observations and interviews as well as informal conversations and different kind of written documents. The theoretical frame work is inspired by Kari Martinsen and Medard Boss in particular. A narrative approach inspired by Andrew Sparkes is used in generating and analyzing the data as well as in presenting the results.

Prospects

It is expected to point out how spiritual care takes place in the interaction between the patients and nurses in hospice care settings. Furthermore it is expected to present knowledge that can contribute to develop the understanding of the concept of spiritual care and discuss how to integrate the spiritual dimension in clinical nursing practice.