title: Religion, world view and the nurse: results of a quantitative survey among Flemish palliative care nurses.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the religious or ideological views and practices of palliative care nurses.
  
  
  METHODS
  An anonymous questionnaire was sent to all nurses (n=589) employed in palliative care in Flanders, Belgium. A total of 70.5% of the nurses (n=415) responded.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Four meaningful factors were found: the ideological dimension, the intellectual dimension, the ritualistic dimension, and the experiential dimension. Five religious or ideological clusters were found: atheists/agnostics (n=66, 18.3%), 'doubters' (n=64, 17.8%), church-going respondents (n=106, 29.4%), religious but not church-going respondents (n=64, 17.8%), and devout church-going respondents (n=60, 16.7%). Older nurses were more committed to the teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. Many nurses take the freedom to compose their own religious or ideological identity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A large majority of the nurses are interested in religious issues. Yet, their attitude toward religion and world view is noncommittal.
authors.affiliation: Interdisciplinary Centre for the Study of Religion and World View, Catholic University, Leuven, Belguim. Joris.Gielen@theo.kuleuven.be
authors.forename: Joris
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gielen
authors.forename: Stef
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: van den Branden
authors.forename: Trudie
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: van Iersel
authors.forename: Bert
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Broeckaert
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001530:Belgium; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009726:Nurses; D010166:Palliative Care; D012067:Religion; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires