Addressing spiritual issues to maintain a sense of hope, meaning and purpose can be an important aspect of mental health care which goes beyond simply providing facilities for religious observance. Expressions of spiritual need from service users can potentially be confused with symptoms of mental ill health. Little is known about how mental health nurses understand or provide this aspect of care for service users.. To read the full article, log in using your NHS Athens details. To access full-text: click “Log in/Register” (top right hand side). Click ‘Institutional Login’ then select 'OpenAthens Federation', then ‘NHS England’. Enter your Athens details to view the article.