Spirituality: What do we mean?

摘要

Despite the plethora of published articles on the concept of spirituality, it seems we are no further forward in understanding it. I do not agree with others who argue that spirituality is a mysterious, transcendental and invisible force (McSherry, 2006).The plethora of articles, including many from this journal, have made it harder to define spirituality and its role in palliative care nursing. John Paley's commentary in this journal last year made a very interesting and useful contribution to the debate (Paley, 2008). Paley argued that current and past definitions of spirituality are ambiguous and often linked with religiosity.