Master of Science in Nursing Theses
Date Degree Awarded
8-2015
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Nursing (M.S.N.)
School
Nursing
Committee Chair
Sharon Christman, Ph.D., RN, FAHA
Second Committee Member
Elizabeth Delaney, CNS, FNP-BC, ONC, ACHPN
Keywords
oncology, palliative care, spiritual care, spirituality, spiritual needs, end-of-life
Abstract
Purpose: To test theorized relationships in the newly developed Faith-Hope-Love Model of Spiritual Wellness (FHLMSW). The research questions were: 1) do measures of faith, hope and love correlate with or predict spirituality as defined by FHLMSW in a palliative care population; and 2) do relationships exist between measures of spirituality and physical symptoms and distress among the same palliative care population.
Patients and Methods: This was a descriptive correlational study, which included 21 participants with a stage III or IV cancer diagnosis that were receiving palliative care at a community oncology practice, that took place between January 2015 to March 2015. Each participant completed a 46-item survey that measured five concepts: spiritual well-being (SWB), hope, faith, anxiety, and loneliness.
Results: Hope and faith were the best predictors of SWB, accounting for 77.3% and 81% of the variance respectively, and showed strong correlations with SWB (R = .882, p = .000, equal values). Anxiety (fear) negatively correlated with SWB (R = -.523, p = .026). The subscales of the loneliness measure negatively correlated with SWB (p > .10) with the strongest in the Romantic subscale (R = .123).
Conclusion: This is the first study where spiritual needs were conceptually and operationally defined, measured, and correlated with each other and with a reliable and valid measure of SWB.
Relevance to clinical practice: Palliative care patients at the end of life expect nurses to provide spiritual care. Researchers have reported multifaceted benefits associated with support of spiritual needs. If the FHLMSW is found to be valid, this may help nurses provide more effective spiritual care at the end of life.
DOI
10.15385/tmsn.2015.1
Recommended Citation
Mueller, Julia R., "Spiritual Well-being, Faith, Hope, Anxiety and Loneliness in Oncology Patients: A Descriptive Correlational Study" (2015). Master of Science in Nursing Theses. 15.
https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/nursing_theses/15
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
