title: Considerations in diagnosing in the spiritual domain.
abstract: As nurses move into the spiritual domain, it is important to recognize beliefs and values implicit in Western Judeo-Christian culture. Cross-cultural comparisons are used to illuminate three Western spiritual assumptions: monotheism, transcendence, and dualism. Awareness of these assumptions can help nurses accommodate spiritual-cultural pluralism. Relevant to Western cultural bias, three types of errors lead to misdiagnosing spiritual distress or spiritual growth by confusing ideas of religion, psychology, and medicine with spirituality. These errors are discussed relevant to nursing practice. More work needs to be done to differentiate and understand spiritual issues related to health.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Engebretson
mesh_terms: D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D006801:Humans; D009730:Nursing Assessment; D009733:Nursing Diagnosis / Q000592:standards*; D010327:Pastoral Care / Q000379:methods*; D011287:Prejudice; D012067:Religion