Spirituality is essential to the holistic health of patients, their families, and health care providers. It addresses the “inner reality of human beings”, and provides a deeper understanding of our life’s purpose. It cannot be easily defined, yet it is evident in the values and ethics of all individuals. Spirituality has an important role in patient care and impacts nursing theory, research, and education. Often the role religion plays in an individual’s personal sense of spirituality can obstruct maintaining an open and unbiased view of the spiritual needs of others. Spiritual patient care needs could be greatly compromised if holistic support remains based on religiosity. The strengths of the research can be found in the large number of studies, long periods of observation, different cultural groups studied, and the consistent results confirming the health benefits of religious and spiritual beliefs.