Barriers to Facilitating Spiritual Care in Mental Health Nursing

Despite being fundamental to healthcare policy and to person-centred care, spiritual care largely remains a neglected dimension of care in mental health nursing. In this article, we examine the tensions between documented benefits of spiritual engagement for service users (such as improved healthcare outcomes and a reduction in suicidality), and the gap in knowledge and confidence by mental health nurses. Drawing upon recent literature in this area, we argue that the lack of targeted nurse education and systemic barriers lead to the lack of mental health nurse confidence, which in turn leads to the omission of spiritual care. To bridge this gap, we advocate for potential solutions such as integrating spiritual care into pre-registration curricula and into continuous professional development.