Nurse educators’ understanding of spirituality and spiritual care in nursing: A South African perspective (Part 1)

Spiritual care experiences of nurses working in intensive care units: A qualitative study

BACKGROUND

Most nurses working in intensive care units are unprepared to provide spiritual care to patients and they lack the competence and skills to provide spiritual care. Lack of moral evaluation of patients has negative effects on the patient. Spiritual care given to patients has effects on patient-nurse communication, general condition of the patient, and the quality of care.

AIM

This study was conducted to find out the spiritual care experiences of nurses working in intensive care units.

STUDY DESIGN

A qualitative descriptive design was used. The study was carried out with 14 nurses who were working in the intensive care units of a university hospital in eastern Turkey between May and July 2022. Two forms were created by the researcher according to the purpose of the study and the population. Inductive thematic analysis was used to evaluate the data. Ethics committee approval was obtained.

RESULTS

Ten of the nurses were women. Their ages were between 25 and 47 years, their working years ranged between 2 and 28 years, and their weekly working hours ranged between 40 to 56 hours. As a result of the thematic analysis, six themes and 18 sub-themes were determined: The themes determined are (1) Definition of spiritual care (2) Time of spiritual care, (3) Benefits of spiritual care, (4) Spiritual care practices, (5) Obstacles in providing spiritual care.

CONCLUSIONS

Providing spiritual care to patients in intensive care is a very important experience for nurses. Understanding spiritual care, recognizing its importance, and including it in nursing practice have a central significance.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

Spiritual care provided in nursing profession is as important as physical care, and supporting patients in intensive care is at the heart of providing the best holistic care.

The Effect of Nurses' Holistic Competence in Chronic Disease Management on Their Attitudes Toward Caregiver Roles

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of nurses' holistic nursing competence in chronic disease management on their attitudes toward caregiving roles. The sample of the study, which was carried out in descriptive design, consists of 114 nurses (52.6% female and 47.4% male). The research data were gathered with sociodemographic characteristics form, the Holistic Nursing Competence Scale (HNCS), and the Attitude Scale for Nurses in Caregiving Roles (ASNCR). The influence of HNCS, gender, years of job, working style, professional status, weekly working time, and difficulty caring for chronic patients on ASNCR explained 38.1% of the variance. The impact of the ASNCR, gender, years of work in the job, working type, weekly working hours, and having difficulties caring for chronic patients on HNCS explained 54.5% of the variance. Our findings demonstrated the impact of holistic competence on nurses' positive attitudes toward the role of caregiver.

Effects of educational management on quality education in rural and urban primary schools in Ghana

To ensure inclusive, equitable quality education, and encourage educational opportunities for lifelong learning worldwide; the United Nations set sustainable development goals (SDG) to achieve quality education. Thus, using SDG 4 quality education and system theory, this research seeks to identify the effects of educational management on quality education in rural and urban primary schools in Ghana. Moreover, the mediating role of internet facilities in educational management and quality education relationhsip has been discussed. Thus, 745 urban and 471 rural head teachers and teachers from Ghana participated in an online survey. The data was compiled and executed by structural equation model using SPSS-AMOS. The result reveals that educational management has a positive effect on quality education in urban and rural schools. In addition, urban schools have more quality education than rural schools. Although internet facilities have a positive effect on quality education their absence weakens the quality of education in urban and rural schools. Moreover, it is recommended that the Ministry of Education should arrange professional training for supervisors and head teachers to boost their monitoring and supervision strategies. Furthermore, Parents Teacher Associations can provide funding to support the monitoring and supervision activities to achieve success. Lastly, quality internet facilities should be built with limited charges in rural and urban schools.

Unani Tibb practitioners' perceptions and attitudes towards spirituality and spiritual care in Unani Tibb practice in South Africa

BACKGROUND

Unani Tibb is an Arabic term which means Greek medicine. It is an ancient holistic medical system based on the healing theories of Hippocrates, Galen and Ibn Sina (Avicenna). Despite this, spirituality and spiritual care practices are deficient in the clinical setting.

METHODS

This cross-sectional descriptive study was used to describe Unani Tibb practitioners' perceptions and attitudes regarding spirituality and spiritual care in South Africa. A demographic form, Spiritual Care-Giving Scale, Spiritual and Spiritual Care Rating Scale and Spirituality in Unani Tibb Scale were used to collect data.

RESULTS

A response rate of 64.7% (n = 44 out of 68) was achieved. Positive perceptions and attitudes regarding spirituality and spiritual care were recorded for Unani Tibb practitioners. The spiritual needs of their patients were considered vital towards enhancing the Unani Tibb treatment approach. Spirituality and spiritual care were regarded as fundamental to Unani Tibb therapy. However, most practitioners agreed that adequate training in spirituality and spiritual care was lacking and future training initiatives were imperative for Unani Tibb clinical practice in South Africa.

CONCLUSION

The findings of this study recommends further research in this field by means of qualitative and mixed methods approaches to provide a deeper understanding to this phenomenon. Clear guidelines on spirituality and spiritual care for Unani Tibb clinical practice are essential to ensure the integrity of the holistic approach required by the profession.

Effects of COVID-19 Outbreak on Persons with Chronic Health Conditions in Anglophone West Africa: A Qualitative Study Involving Key Stakeholders

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the suffering of persons with chronic health conditions due to the increased demand for healthcare services in the pandemic. Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic has become a key determinant of how health systems function, with most existing health conditions being given less attention. This study focused on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on persons with chronic diseases in four Anglophone West African countries (Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone) using in-depth interviews of a qualitative method to collect data from key stakeholders in chronic disease issues. The finding shows that COVID-19 caused fear, anxiety, and affected planned health delivery and resource location to interventions designed for chronic disease patients. The study also suggested training, improved technology in health delivery, increased resource location, and factoring persons with chronic health conditions into emergency health decision-making to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 and other future pandemics on persons with chronic health conditions.