‘You never come back the same’: The challenge of spiritual care in a deployed military nursing context

Aims and objectives To explore the experience of spirituality and spiritual care by military nurses on deployed operations. Background Despite an increasing body of research addressing spirituality in nursing care in a variety of clinical settings, the deployed military nursing context remains poorly understood. Design A qualitative, philosophical hermeneutic design. Method Ten Australian military nurses were interviewed about their experiences of spirituality and spiritual care while on deployed operations. Analyses were performed using a phenomenological method informed by philosophical hermeneutics. Results The participants perceived that they had an important role in the provision of spiritual care in the absence of family on deployed operations. However, the nurse also needed to care for their own spiritual needs. The results suggested that spirituality and spiritual care may provide positive benefits in protecting against the long-term psychological, emotional and spiritual impacts of military service on deployed operations. Conclusions Military nurses need to understand the factors that influence spiritual care delivery in their practice setting. Nurses need to be cognizant of the importance of spiritual care in the deployed military context, not only for their patients and colleagues, but also for themselves. Spirituality is argued as a protective factor against the challenges and consequences often associated with deployment. Well developed spiritual resilience may assist in ensuring that military personnel return home emotionally, psychologically and spiritually “fit”. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.