Implementing nursing diagnoses and care for the spiritual dimension of people with cancer: educational actions

OBJECTIVE: To establish the implementation of nursing diagnoses and care for the spiritual dimension of people with cancer. METHOD: Action research in a university hospital in the north-east of Brazil. Nine nurses and thirteen nursing technicians from the Onco-hematology and Bone Marrow Transplant Unit of this hospital took part. Data collection took place in four phases and involved the talking map technique, pedagogical workshops and a logbook. The groups’ speeches were coded using Maxqda software, subjected to Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis and interpreted in the light of Paulo Freire’s constructs. RESULTS: Phase 1 sought to apprehend the participants’ prior knowledge on the subject; in phase 2, proposals emerged for spiritual care organized in the Nursing Process; in phase 3, the diagnoses and care plan for the spiritual dimension for clinical practice were contemplated; and in phase 4, through the final evaluation, it was possible to see the transformations that occurred in the nursing team’s practice with the proposed implementation. CONCLUSION: The educational actions provided significant learning for the nursing team and the implementation of diagnoses and nursing care for the spiritual dimension of people with cancer.