Commentary: Palliative and spiritual care perspectives on fatalism in chronic disease care

This intentional and thought-provoking paper by Asshiddiqi (2026) provides accessible insights into the evolving role of nurses as reflective practitioners, collaborative partners and leaders in addressing digital health literacy.Health fatalism is explored as a belief that outcomes are predetermined by external forces (Kulakçı-Altıntaş and Ayaz-Alkaya, 2024), exacerbated by intersecting digital, spiritual, cultural and relational factors (Asshiddiqi, 2026).Through a structured reflective practice, guided by Gibbs' Reflective Cycle (Gibbs, 1988), a complex personal-professional dilemma is examined.Moving through stages of description, feeling, evaluation, analysis, conclusions and action plan (Gibbs, 1988), a potent exemplar of reflective practice is offered.By weaving together multiple ways of knowing -empirical, aesthetic, personal and ethical (Carper, 1978;Sherwood, 2024) -meaningful insights are generated around how nurses across settings can more fully embody our roles as partners in supporting holistic health.A tripartite framework for addressing health fatalism is presented: (1) strengthening family/ relational support, (2) practising spiritual-cultural sensitivity and (3) countering health disinformation.For each pillar, adaptable strategies are outlined to support patients as they navigate complex health decisions.Finally, a call to action emphasises embedding reflective practice across nursing education, clinical practice and health policy.Educators are encouraged to position reflective practice as a core competency, alongside digital health literacy and ethical communication about