Clinical Pastoral Care in the Context of Palliative Nursing: Existential Support for the Dying Patient and the Nurse

Abstract

The article provides a systematic analysis of the place and significance of clinical pastoral care within the context of palliative nursing, conceptualizing it as a practice of existential support oriented not only toward the dying patient but also toward the nurse, who is continually confronted with death, suffering, and loss in the professional environment. The article is grounded in the assumption that end-of-life situations fundamentally transcend purely biomedical or psychological explanatory frameworks, as they inevitably raise existential questions related to the meaning of life, human dignity, relationships, experiences of guilt and hope, and the acceptance of the inevitability of death.

Employing theoretical-analytical and conceptual problem-oriented analysis, the article first defines the concept of clinical pastoral care and its theological and anthropological foundations, highlighting its connection with a holistic model of the human person. It demonstrates that palliative care, which seeks comprehensive patient care, cannot be understood solely as the management of physical symptoms but must also encompass the spiritual-existential dimension of the person.

The article argues that clinical pastoral care should be integrated into the palliative nursing system as an inseparable component of holistic care, rather than as an additional or incidental form of support. It is concluded that the consistent integration of clinical pastoral care into palliative nursing practice is a necessary condition for ensuring a dignified end-of-life experience for patients, strengthening nurses’ professional and existential sustainability, and fostering a more humane health care system oriented toward the wholeness of the person.