ABSTRACT
The first requirement for anyone caring for a patient and wishing to recognise his spiritual and cultural needs is to know something of the basic beliefs of the religion concerned. Nurses themselves should not underestimate just how stressful dealing with dying patients and their families can be. The patient may become agitated and be comforted only by seeing a priest or by performing some ritual on his own in order to assuage some guilt or confusion. When nurses ask about their level of religious practice some patients may regard this as 'nosy and inquisitive'. Britain was primarily a Christian society; in some ways it still is, but now many people in Britain are from totally different religious backgrounds, with quite different practices and beliefs. In the case of faiths other than Christianity, moreover, chaplains and official hospital visitors are often themselves very part-time.
