Palliative Care and Spirituality in Neonatal Nursing: Literature Review

Abstract

Background: Although neonatal intensive care units mainly focus on saving lives, newborns and their families recommended providing palliative and spiritual care. Aim: To create a perspective on palliative and spiritual care for the newborns and their families of neonatal nursing, and the effective management of this process.Methods: This is a literature review. Results: Palliative care includes a comprehensive approach to life, death, and aftercare. Palliative care include pain management, symptom management, psychosocial and spiritual care. Spiritual care of patients and parents is significantly related to their well-being.Conclusion: Nurses can plan and implement palliative and spiritual care, using their roles of manager, caregiver, collaborator, leader, educator, researcher, and advocate. Palliative and spiritual care offered by nurses, will improve the health outcomes, ensure that the parents have a healthier period of loss and grief, and support holistic, individualized, family-centered care.