Premium
Competence and frequency of provision of spiritual care by nurses in the Netherlands
Author(s) -
Vogel Annemieke,
SchepAkkerman Annemiek E.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of caring sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.678
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1471-6712
pISSN - 0283-9318
DOI - 10.1111/scs.12575
Subject(s) - competence (human resources) , spiritual care , likert scale , spirituality , psychology , nursing , medicine , social psychology , alternative medicine , developmental psychology , pathology
Background Spiritual care to patients is important for their well‐being, and nurses do have a crucial role in it. Previous research focused on self‐assessed competence in providing spiritual care, but little is known about the actual provision. The aims of this study were as follows: (i) to evaluate how often nurses provide spiritual care, (ii) if or which association there is between self‐assessed competency and provision of spiritual care, and (iii) to study which factors do have influence on delivering spiritual care. Method A quantitative study was designed. Nurses were asked to complete a questionnaire. Self‐assessment of spiritual care competence and actions was evaluated with the Spiritual Care Competence Scale New: a 27 items questionnaire on competence ( SCCS ‐can) and frequency ( SCCS ‐do) of providing spiritual care, measured with a five‐point Likert scale. Mean competence score and frequency of provision were calculated, next to the correlation between those two. Several factors (mean SCCS ‐can, gender, age, education level, experience, life view, personal spirituality (measured on a 1–10 scale)) were included in regression analysis to study factors of influence on actual provision of spiritual care (measured with SCCS ‐do). Results A total of 104 completed questionnaires have been analysed. Mean score on the SCCS ‐can was 3.9, and on the SCCS ‐do 3.2. This means that nurses state they are highly competent in delivering spiritual care and provide this monthly. The Pearson correlation between SCCS ‐can and SCCS ‐do was 0.50, which means the higher the score on SCCS ‐can, the higher the score on SCCS ‐do. Regression analysis shows that the self‐assessed competence of spiritual care ( SCCS ‐can) and the personal spirituality are significant predictors of the outcome SCCS ‐do. Conclusion The better the nurses think they can provide spiritual care, the more they say they practise it. Regression analysis supports this: the factors of influence on provision of spiritual care are self‐assessed competence and personal spirituality.