Spirituality in self-care for intensive care nursing professionals

Abstract

This study aimed to understand how spirituality permeates the process of caring for oneself and for others in the intensive care scenario from nursing professionals' point of view. This study used the qualitative approach of Cabral's Creative-Sensitive Method to guide information production and analysis in nine art and experience workshops. Nine nursing caregivers from the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a university hospital participated in the study. This article presents one of the topics that emerged during this process: spirituality in self-care, which is evidenced in the daily practices that take place through prayers, close contact with nature, as well as in the sense of connection with a Higher Power that provides peace, welfare, and greater strength to ICU caregivers' life and work. Self-knowledge emerged as an essential practice in caring for oneself, in order to deliver better care to others.