The Relationship between Spiritual Health and Spiritual Care Competencies in Nurses: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

The aim of this study the effect of spiritual health on spiritual care competencies in nurses and predictors affecting spiritual care competence. The cross-sectional study was conducted with nurses working in a university hospital in 2022 (n=205). Data were collected the “Socio-demographic information form”, “Spiritual Health Scale-Short Form” and “Spiritual Care Competence Scale-Turkish”. The spiritual health (93.81±12.19) and spiritual care competence (105.45±17.10) points of the nurses were moderate level. The spiritual health and spiritual care competencies of the nurses who had a high education level and took courses/trainings on spiritual care were higher. A significant correlation was found between the spiritual health and the spiritual care competence (p<0.05). The increase in spiritual health (β=0.478), age (β=0.583), education level (β=0.204), professional working years (β=0.674) and participation in religious activities (β=0.115) in nurses were determined as predictors of increasing spiritual care competence. The study findings indicate that nurses' spiritual care competence was affected by their spiritual health levels. According to the results of this study, it is necessary to include education and consultancy services to increase/develop spiritual health (to evaluate spiritual needs and support spiritual needs) in the curriculum of nursing students and education seminars for nurses.