Analysis of Spiritual Care Competence in Students of Ferdows Health and Paramedical School: 2014-15

Spiritual care competency and its relationship with clinical self-efficacy in nursing students

BACKGROUND

Spiritual care occupies a special place in holistic care and improving the quality of services provided to patients. The component of clinical self-efficacy is recognized as a prerequisite for clinical capacity and competency. The current study determined the level of spiritual care competency and its relationship with clinical self-efficacy in nursing students.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was conducted on 194 nursing students studying in medical sciences universities in Yazd, Iran, who were selected by convenient sampling. Data collection tools were a spiritual care competency scale and nursing students' clinical self-efficacy questionnaire. The gleaned data were analyzed by SPSS20 using descriptive and inferential statistics.

RESULTS

The mean scores of spiritual care competency and clinical self-efficacy of students were 70.29 ± 9.58 and 102.40 ± 21.57, respectively. The results of Pearson's correlation coefficient test showed that clinical self-efficacy had a positive significant correlation with spiritual care competency (p = 0.04, r = 0.14). The mean score of spiritual care competency was higher in female students (71.10 ± 9.81) than male students (67.50 ± 8.23) with a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05). The regression test results suggested that clinical self-efficacy can be considered as a predictor of spiritual care competency.

CONCLUSION

The results revealed that spiritual care competency in nursing students was at an average level, and the higher the level of clinical self-efficacy is, the more developed the spiritual care competency will be. Thus, nursing educators and health system managers should pay special attention to improving the clinical self-efficacy of nursing students to develop their spiritual care competency.

Nursing Students' Professional Competence in Providing Spiritual Care in Iran

Providing spiritual care as a dimension of holistic nursing care is a task that requires competent caregivers. The present study seeks to examine the relationship of personal characteristics with perceived competence in Iranian nursing students and their professional competence in providing spiritual care. This cross-sectional study was conducted on all the nursing students at Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran, using the census method (n = 224). The research sample consisted of 179 students who met the eligibility criteria. Data were collected using the Spiritual Care Competence Scale (SCCS). The mean SCCS score for respondents was 3.66. Using the cutoff point of >3.5, approximately three quarters of respondents (72.1%) perceived themselves to be competent in delivering spiritual care. The scores of competence and its domains were not significantly different in terms of history of participation in ethics training workshops, gender and marital status (P > 0.05). The scores were also not significantly correlated with age, semester and work experience. Although more than 70% of the nursing students perceived themselves competent in providing spiritual care, nursing curriculum planners should seek to promote the spiritual capacity and competence of nursing students in providing spiritual care through education and training.

Perceived spiritual care competence and the related factors in nursing students during Covid-19 pandemic

Background

Spirituality is defined as the way people experience, express, and seek meanings. It is a major concept in the field of nursing care. Nursing students who are trained and exposed to patients' spiritual care will be better able to take care of their patients' spiritual needs.

Objectives

The study aimed to assess perceived spiritual care competence and the related factors in nursing students during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Methods

This was a cross-sectional study. The participants were 191 undergraduate nursing students at Guilan University of Medical Sciences (GUMS) that were entered into the study from July 29 to December 21, 2021. The spiritual care competence scale was used to measure spiritual care competence in the participants. It is a 27-item questionnaire with six dimensions including assessing and implementing spiritual care, professionalism and improving the quality of spiritual care, personal support and patient counseling, referral to professionals, attitude towards patient's spirituality, and communication. Data was collected using the convenience sampling method. Data analysis was done by SPSS software version 16.0 using descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate methods.

Results

The mean total score of spiritual care competency was 106.8 (SD = 13.4). The mean total score of spiritual care competency was significantly higher in the native students (P = 0.031) and the students with experience of jobs in hospitals (P = 0.037).

Conclusion

The findings indicated an acceptable level of performance in nursing students in spiritual care during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Perceived professional competence in spiritual care and predictive role of spiritual intelligence in Iranian nursing students

AIM/OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to identify the relationship between perceived competence in spiritual care and spiritual intelligence among nursing students.

BACKGROUND

One of the most important duties of nurses is to pay attention to the spiritual needs of patients and provide them with proper spiritual care. Therefore, professional competence in this area is essential for nurses and nursing students. Also, spiritual intelligence is a factor influencing the caring behaviors of nurses.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional and correlational study SETTINGS/PARTICIPANTS: This study was included 510 undergraduate nursing students in two public faculties of nursing in Iran in the 2018-2019 academic year.

METHODS

The samples were selected using a census method. A demographic information questionnaire, the valid and reliable Iranian questionnaire of nurses' competencies in spiritual care and the spiritual intelligence self-report inventory (SISRI) were used to collect data.

RESULTS

A significant positive correlation was found between nursing students' competence in spiritual care and spiritual intelligence (p < 0.001, r = 0.26). No significant differences were found between the mean competence scores of spiritual care in terms of demographic characteristics. There were significant differences between the mean spiritual intelligence score in terms of age, marital status, history of clinical practice and academic year. The regression model indicated that for increased rates of spiritual intelligence, professional competence in spiritual care would rise as much as 0.39.

CONCLUSION

Spiritual intelligence can affect the competence of nursing students in providing spiritual care to patients. Therefore, to promote students' spiritual intelligence, appropriate plans with the aim of promoting the level of critical thinking and spiritual self-awareness are recommended.