Cultural and spiritual needs
Downloaded content date
PDF created on: 18 Mar 2026.
Downloaded from: https://rcnlearn.rcn.org.uk/Testing/Fundamentals-of-nursing-care-at-the-end-of-life-Resource-Page/Cultural-and-spiritual-needs.
Please check: https://rcnlearn.rcn.org.uk for a more up-to-date version of this content.Cultural and spiritual needs
Each person will have cultural, spiritual, and religious beliefs that will shape the care you give.
Be mindful that:
- For some people spirituality may be linked to a belief system, and for others it may be about finding meaning in what is happening.
- Having a conversation and listening to people will help you understand and meet their needs.
- You don’t need to share a person’s values to respect them.
- A person may have rituals that they may need you to support them with before or after death.
- You won’t know what is important to people unless you ask them.
- It is not possible to provide all the answers, and a person may need further support by referral to a specialist team.
Further information
- Anansarajah, G. Hight, e. (2001). Spirituality and Medical Practice: Using the HOPE Questions as a Practical Tool for Spiritual Assessment
- Barneman, T. et al (2010). Evaluation of the FICA Tool for Spiritual Assessment
- Ferell, B.R. et al. (2020). The Urgency of Spiritual Care: COVID-19 and the Critical Need for Whole-Person Palliation. Journal of pain and symptom management
- Monod, S.M. et al (2010). The Spiritual Distress Assessment Tool: An Instrument to Assess Spiritual Distress in Hospitalised Elderly Persons. BMC Geriatrics.
