Examining the competency of spiritual care in Iranian Nurses 

Examining the competency of spiritual care in Iranian Nurses | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Examining the competency of spiritual care in Iranian Nurses Mahdieh Sarhadi, Sakineh Mazloom This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4421450/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Introduction: Spiritual care is a main element of holistic nursing and can help improve the health of patients. One of the necessary things to provide proper spiritual care to patients is to have the necessary competence in this regard. Methods and Materials: The present descriptive-analytical study was conducted with the aim of determining the competency spiritual care on 120 nurses working in educational Iranian hospital in2024. The data collection tool was a questionnaire (competency scale was spiritual care)Data analysis was done using spss22 software and descriptive tests, independent t analysis and Pearson's correlation coefficient. Results: The results of the present study showed that the average score of nurses' spiritual care qualification is 64.80 ± 15.57, which shows that the professional qualification score of nurses is low. Conclusion: strengthening the moral and spiritual foundations of nurses, developing a coherent educational program and content, and applying appropriate educational strategies by nursing managers can improve the provision of spiritual care to patients by nurses. Clinical Relevance: Spirituality is the essential aspect of care and it can improve the health of people who Under the influence acute, chronic and severe physical or emotional diseases are located to help. Spirituality Professional Competence Nursing INTRODUCTION Spirituality is the dynamic dimension of human life and a essential aspect of care( 1 – 4 ), which has been increasingly taken into consideration as a human dimension and with the understanding of its role in the recovery and health of people ( 5 , 6 )And it can improve the health of people who Under the influence acute, chronic and severe physical or emotional diseases are located to help( 7 ). This issue is crystallized in nursing studies as well ( 8 ). The research of the last decade also indicates that paying attention to spirituality is a necessity that gives indescribable peace, strength and vitality to patients;and it has received special attention for nursing theorists such as Travelbee, Martinsenand Neuman, Henderson ( 7 , 9 ). Spirituality is an excellent component in nursing and as a basis for nursing activities ( 10 , 11 ) and paying attention to it can play an important role in health, recovery of patients, well-being, quality of life and achieving health goals (13 − 11). Spirituality plays an important role in holistic care ( 2 , 4 ) and it should be considered in order to have a comprehensive, real view and proper care of the patient ( 11 , 13 ). Holistic care is derived from the word holism. It means treating a person in all dimensions, not just removing physical symptoms. This term is a familiar term for all nurses in the last decade( 14 ) and affects how patients achieve balance in life, maintaining well-being and health( 2 , 4 ). From the perspective of a holistic nurse, a human being is a multidimensional being ( 11 , 13 ) and is considered as a biological, social, psychological and spiritual entity. For this reason, in the process of taking care of him, attention should be paid to all aspects of his existence, because these dimensions are dynamic and effective on each other. Together they form health ( 15 ). Spirituality also allows a person to move towards spiritual health along with physical sufferings ( 16 ) and makes a person feel better and, as a result, gain more power to deal with diseases and this, even If it does not cure the disease, it will cause the patient to get better or help the patient to cope with his disease better ( 17 ). So that the various studies conducted in this field have also pointed to the role of spirituality in recovery and the effect of spirituality on the quality of care, the power of recovery, cope and adapt to changes, health and conditions related to the patient. ( 18 – 20 ). Some Other have gone further and believe that without spiritual health, other dimensions of health cannot have the maximum desired performance ( 14 ). However, spiritual care is a multi-dimensional concept and includes practice and activities in fields such as respect, preserving the patient's privacy and dignity of the patient, supporting cultural and religious beliefs, listening carefully to the patient, being kind when interacting with the patient, empathy and helping the patient to understand the meaning of the disease ( 21 ). Since spiritual needs often become more intense during illness ( 10 ). The ability to provide spiritual care to patients is increasingly considered as a core job skill for nurses ( 22 , 23 ). The purpose of this type of care is to reduce the problems of patients on a spiritual level and help them find the meaning of life, self-fulfillment, hope, creativity, faith, trust, peace, comfort, prayer and the ability to love in the midst of suffering and illness ( 24 ). In addition, spiritual care seeks to help patients to face the fear of death, reduce uncertainty and discomfort in the treatment process and restore their inner peace ( 25 ). However, this dimension is deeply subjective and one's interpretation of spirituality depends on one's personal view of life ( 26 ). For this reason, helping to meet the spiritual needs of patients and their families is one of the main elements of clinical care ( 18 – 20 ) and it has been accepted as a broad part of nurses' responsibilities ( 1 , 2 ). However, the providing of effective nursing care in this field requires the development of nurses' professional qualifications ( 2 ), which provides the basis for expanding the knowledge, skills and attitudes of nurses through regular educational evaluations ( 27 ). However, in clinical work, nurses do not have full knowledge and understanding of spiritual care and spiritual care qualifications, which has caused most patients' spiritual needs to remain unfulfilled ( 28 ). The results of Lin et al.'s study in examining nurses' understanding of spirituality and spiritual care and the factors affecting it have shown that nurses need necessary training in relation to spirituality and providing spiritual care to patients ( 29 ). Researchers have identified potential barriers to spiritual care, including insufficient education provision, negative attitudes toward spirituality or death, insufficient time at the patient's bedside, confusion about the role of nurses, incompetence, and avoidance of spiritual issues ( 30 , 31 ). Therefore, according to the essential role of spiritual care in the health and peace of patients and their families, the people providing this care should have sufficient spiritual competence and morals( 32 ) and on the other hand, the desire of organizations providing health services in employing a skilled workforce has caused the competence of health-related professionals to be given more attention than before. Accordingly, competence is considered as a complex and ambiguous concept and one of the controversial issues in the field of health care. Various fields of nursing, including education, clinical and nursing management, become very important ( 33 ). Competence in spiritual care refers to a set of skills used in the professional field or clinical nursing process, which includes nurse-patient therapeutic communication, being available to the patient, active listening, showing empathy and compassion, facilitating skills, Religious services for patients with specific religious beliefs help the patient and complete unfinished tasks and refer to a spiritual experts ( 34 , 35 ).therefore, considering the undeniable role that spiritual care can play in the health of patients The correct provision of spiritual care to patients requires that the providers of these cares have the necessary qualifications in this regard. For this purpose, the present study was designed and implemented with the aim of evaluating the competence of nurses in providing spiritual care to patients. METHODOLOGY A cross-sectional, descriptive study was employed in this study; data were collected data were collected through January 20, 2024. The study was approved by the Ethical Committee of the Zahedan University of Medical Sciences. The research community consisted of all nurses working in educational Iranian hospital. After reviewing similar studies and using formulas to determine the sample size, 120 people were selected by multistage sampling method and included in the study. In this way, after obtaining the legal permits and referring to the above-mentioned hospitals, firstly, based on the number of nurses in each hospital, their percentage was calculated, and the samples were allocated to each hospital in the form of a quota, and in the second stage using systematic random sampling, we selected the desired sample. Inclusion criteria required that nurses be of Iranian nationality, have nursing certification, having at least six months of work experience in the aforementioned hospitals, having direct and continuous communication with the patient, have worked in different shifts and do not have many physical and mental problems. After obtaining legal permits and while assuring the confidentiality of personal information to the nurses, the questionnaire was distributed among them by the researcher without mentioning their names and then collected. A two-part questionnaire was used in this study. The first part of this questionnaire was related to the demographic information of nurses, and the second part was the Spiritual Care Competence Scale (SCCS) questionnaire, which was designed by Van Leeuwen and Casoler in 2004 ( 36 ). The validity and reliability of this scale has also been previously conducted in the study of Nasahi et al., entitled "Evaluation of the competence of nursing students in providing spiritual care to patients" ( 8 ). In such a way, in their study, the return of the questionnaire to Farsi language was done back ward forward by two members of the faculty who are fluent in English, then the Farsi version was returned to English by two other people, and then the two English versions where Compatibility was checked by a person who was fluent in both languages. In order to check the content validity of the Persian version of the questionnaire, help was obtained from the opinions of the members of the academic staff. In this way, the tool was given to ten members of the scientific faculty of the nursing department to apply the questions of the questionnaire in terms of ease, clarity and relevance of the subject and their supplementary comments. In order to determine the reliability of the scale, Cronbach's alpha was used, and it was 0.87. It should be mentioned that the questionnaire mentioned in the study of Van Leeuwen. Casoler has been used in 2004 with an alpha coefficient of 0.56 to 0.82 ( 36 ). This scale has 6 dimensions, the first dimension is "examination and implementation of spiritual care, questions 6 − 1, the second dimension is "professionalizing and improving the quality of spiritual care, questions ( 7 – 12 ), the third dimension is "personal support and counseling of patients" (questions 13–18). The fourth dimension was "referral" (questions 19–21), the fifth dimension was "attitude towards the spirituality of the patient" (questions 22–25) and finally the sixth dimension was "communication" (questions 26–27), the answers were completely based on a 5-point Likert scale. It is from completely agree to completely disagree, and it is scored from 5 to 10. The total score of this scale is between 27 and 135. The scoring of the scale in the current research was as follows: a score between 62 − 27 indicates low spiritual competence, a score between 63–98 indicates moderate competence and a score above 98 indicates high spiritual competence has been taken ( 33 ). Cronbach's alpha method was also used to determine the reliability of the tool in the present study. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 22 software. to analyze data, descriptive Statistics were used. After checking the normality of the data based on Kolmegraph and Smironov tests, correlation between demographic data and spirituality and spiritual care mean score was examined by the Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients, t-test for independent groups, one-way ANOVA and multiple regression in A significance level of α = 0.05 was used. It should be noted that this study is derived from the research plan approved by the Zahedan University of Medical Sciences. The ethical committee of the Zahedan University of Medical Sciences has approved this study with the ethical code https://ethics.research.ac.ir/IR.ZAUMS.REC.1402.028 . RESULTS From a total of 120 nurses participating in the study, 16% were male and 40/6% were women The results of the present study showed that 34 (16%) of the employees were male and 86 (40.6%) were female. 26.9% were less than 30 years old and 29.7% were more than 30 years old, 15.1% were single and 41% were married,42.5% were working in Noncritical care and 14.2% were working in Critical care. 18.9% were Full-time and 37.7% were part-time, 17.9% had less than 10 years and 38.1% had more than 10 years of work experience. The results showed that the mean score of participants’competency spiritual care was 64.80 ± 15.57. Table 1 shows the mean scores Competence of spiritual care According to demographics and the independent t-test results. Table 1 Demographic characteristics and differences in spiritual care competence Variable Category Mean ± SD t-test ANOVA Gender Female 64.59 ± 15.58 0.818 - male 65.33 ± 15.75 marital status Single 65.06 ± 18.23 0.94 married 64.83 ± 14.46 Age less than30 years 64.16 ± 15.48 0.684 more than30 years 65.35 ± 15.75 Type of hospital ward Critical care 61.75 ± 16.48 0.23 - Non critical care 65.77 ± 15.24 Employment status Full-time 64. 03 ± 15. 67 0.46 Part-time 66. 30 ± 15.46 Work experience (years) less than10 years 69. 30 ± 13.46 0.34 10–20 years 68. 50 ± 12.49 more than20 years 68. 44 ± 12.48 DISCUSSION Although spiritual care is a familiar term in nursing and most nursing models deal with concept of spirituality, and spiritual care is widely recognized as one of the essential aspects of clinical care, but still not enough attention is paid to this aspect of care) 37) and the results of the present study showed that the professional qualification of nurses in the field of providing spiritual care is not very favorable. The study of Adib Haj Bagheri et al (2015), with the title of examining the professional competence of nurses in the field of spiritual care in Kashan city, also showed that the professional competence of nurses in the field of providing spiritual care, especially considering the Islamic culture of the society, is not very desirable ( 32 ). Meanwhile, Machul et al., in a study they conducted on Polish nurses with the aim of psychometrically measuring the spiritual care competency scale, showed that nurses' spiritual care competency is at a high level ( 38 ). The results of these study was not consistent with the results of the present study. In the explanation of this finding, it can be said that the cultural difference of societies as well as the type of nursing education provided can be one of the reasons for this difference. Research generally shows that nurses who are trained in spiritual care are better able to provide spiritual care to patients ( 39 – 41 ). Adib Haj Bagheri and colleagues also showed in another study that nurses are facing problems in providing spiritual care due to lack of training in this field ( 42 ).The results of the present study also show that there is no significant difference between the professional qualification of nurses and the type of department and hospital in which they work. This finding is in contrast to the findings of Adib Haj Bagheri et al. In their study, they showed that the qualification scores of nurses in special care and psychiatric departments are higher ( 33 ). The results of the present study also showed that there is no correlation between demographic variables and professional competence of nurses in spiritual care, which is consistent with the findings of studies by Guo et al (2022). They also showed in their study that there is no significant difference between the professional competence of nursing students and demographic variables. ( 2 , 18 ), which is in line with the findings of Abusafia et al 2021 ( 43 ) and Atarhim et al ( 44 ). CONCLUSION Although spiritual care is an essential element in holistic care, nurses' knowledge and skills are often unable to meet patients' spiritual care needs, and most of them have not received training in spiritual care. These findings show that it is necessary to conduct more studies on spirituality and spiritual care in Iran. Therefore, it is recommended that patients' spiritual needs should be met along with their physical and mental needs, spiritual care should be included in the design of the nursing program, and people should be given the opportunity to acquire skills and competencies in spiritual care. Limitations of this study include the small number of nurses participating and the study being conducted in a limited scientific setting. Therefore, it is suggested that future research assess nurses' professional competence in spiritual care in a broader setting. Declarations Ethics approval and consent to participate: The project was approved by the institutional review board of Zahedan University of Medical Sciences(IR.ZAUMS.REC.1402.028).https://ethics.research.ac.ir/IR.ZAUMS.REC.1402.028 .When recruiting participants, the purpose of the study was clearly explained. Then, informed consent (written and oral) was obtained. We granted the right to the participants to decline or cease participation at any time. They were assured of the confidentiality of all the gathered data and also of sharing the results with them upon their request. To ensure the anonymity of the participants’ identity, we used abbreviations. This study was carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations. Availability of data and materials: The datasets used and analysed in the current study can be made available by the corresponding author upon reasonable request. Conflict interests: The authors declare that they have no conflict interests. Consent for publication: Not Applicable. Availability of data and material: Not Applicable. Funding: No funding. Authors' contributions: MS and SM designed the project. MS managed the project and collected all the interviews and field notes. MS and SM analysed the qualitative data. MS and SM Were responsible for manuscript preparation. All authors contributed towards reviewing the paper before submission. The author(s) read and approved the final manuscript. Acknowledgements: We hereby thank and appreciate all the participants who participated in this research. It should be noted that this study is derived from the approved research plan of Zahedan University of Medical Sciences. The ethical committee of Zahedan University of Medical Sciences has approved this study with the ethical code (IR.ZAUMS.REC.1402.028). Clinical Resources: American Nurses Association. Spirituality and the nursing profession. https://engage.healthy nurse healthy nation.org/blogs/8/3581. 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J Continuing Educ Nurs. 2022;53(5):225–. – 31.[Persian]. Adib-Hajbaghery M, Zehtabchi S, Fini IA. Iranian nurses’ professional competence in spiritual care in 2014. Nurs Ethics. 2017;24(4):462–73. [Persian]. Abusafia AH, Mamat Z, Rasudin NS, Bakar M, Ismail R. Spiritual care competence among Malaysian staff nurses. Nurse Media J Nurs. 2021;11(1):1–9. [Persian]. Atarhim MA, Lee S, Copnell B. An exploratory study of spirituality and spiritual care among Malaysian nurses. J Relig Health. 2019;58(1):180–94. [Persian]. Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4421450","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":322641173,"identity":"8b24095b-7dad-4a43-81e0-d97ef9fa3c75","order_by":0,"name":"Mahdieh Sarhadi","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABC0lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYHACNiCSgLINGBj4QXRCASlaJBtAWgwIakHiGhyA6sUF5NvPPnvwo8yCwVwi9/HHHwV37DafX5344YEBgzy/2AGsWgzOpJsb9pyTYLCckW4mzWPwLHnbjbebJYAOM5w5OwG7FoY0NgneNgkGgxtpbMwMBoeTzW6c3QDSkmBwG7sW+f5nbJJ/IVqYP/4AajGecXbzD3xaGICGS0NtYZDgMThsZ8Dfuw2vLQY3nrFJy5wDKj4DZAC1JEjc4N1mkWAggdMv8v1pbJJvyurkDI6DHPbnsD1//9nNN39U2MjzS+NwGBTwwBiJDRJglRI4lWIAewb+A8SrHgWjYBSMghEBAMtkWfRSNoljAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Zahedan University of Medical Sciences","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mahdieh","middleName":"","lastName":"Sarhadi","suffix":""},{"id":322641175,"identity":"9dcb8be0-30a6-434c-9bff-3a9a4b1f6d27","order_by":1,"name":"Sakineh Mazloom","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Zahedan University of Medical Sciences","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sakineh","middleName":"","lastName":"Mazloom","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-05-14 21:08:28","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4421450/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4421450/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":61284340,"identity":"a3f64e16-39da-48ac-825e-e25aa8439aa1","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-07-29 06:01:52","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":337294,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4421450/v1/c676e7fa-9d18-4318-8e9d-b237b22e6ba3.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Examining the competency of spiritual care in Iranian Nurses ","fulltext":[{"header":"INTRODUCTION","content":"\u003cp\u003eSpirituality is the dynamic dimension of human life and a essential aspect of care(\u003cspan additionalcitationids=\"CR2 CR3\" citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e), which has been increasingly taken into consideration as a human dimension and with the understanding of its role in the recovery and health of people (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e)And it can improve the health of people who Under the influence acute, chronic and severe physical or emotional diseases are located to help(\u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis issue is crystallized in nursing studies as well (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e8\u003c/span\u003e). The research of the last decade also indicates that paying attention to spirituality is a necessity that gives indescribable peace, strength and vitality to patients;and it has received special attention for nursing theorists such as Travelbee, Martinsenand Neuman, Henderson (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e9\u003c/span\u003e). Spirituality is an excellent component in nursing and as a basis for nursing activities (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e10\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e11\u003c/span\u003e) and paying attention to it can play an important role in health, recovery of patients, well-being, quality of life and achieving health goals (13\u0026thinsp;\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;11).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSpirituality plays an important role in holistic care (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e) and it should be considered in order to have a comprehensive, real view and proper care of the patient (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e11\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e13\u003c/span\u003e). Holistic care is derived from the word holism. It means treating a person in all dimensions, not just removing physical symptoms. This term is a familiar term for all nurses in the last decade(\u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e14\u003c/span\u003e) and affects how patients achieve balance in life, maintaining well-being and health(\u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e). From the perspective of a holistic nurse, a human being is a multidimensional being (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e11\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e13\u003c/span\u003e) and is considered as a biological, social, psychological and spiritual entity. For this reason, in the process of taking care of him, attention should be paid to all aspects of his existence, because these dimensions are dynamic and effective on each other. Together they form health (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e15\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSpirituality also allows a person to move towards spiritual health along with physical sufferings (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e16\u003c/span\u003e) and makes a person feel better and, as a result, gain more power to deal with diseases and this, even If it does not cure the disease, it will cause the patient to get better or help the patient to cope with his disease better (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e17\u003c/span\u003e). So that the various studies conducted in this field have also pointed to the role of spirituality in recovery and the effect of spirituality on the quality of care, the power of recovery, cope and adapt to changes, health and conditions related to the patient.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e(\u003cspan additionalcitationids=\"CR19\" citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e18\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e20\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSome Other have gone further and believe that without spiritual health, other dimensions of health cannot have the maximum desired performance (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e14\u003c/span\u003e). However, spiritual care is a multi-dimensional concept and includes practice and activities in fields such as respect, preserving the patient's privacy and dignity of the patient, supporting cultural and religious beliefs, listening carefully to the patient, being kind when interacting with the patient, empathy and helping the patient to understand the meaning of the disease (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e21\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSince spiritual needs often become more intense during illness (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e10\u003c/span\u003e). The ability to provide spiritual care to patients is increasingly considered as a core job skill for nurses (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e22\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e23\u003c/span\u003e). The purpose of this type of care is to reduce the problems of patients on a spiritual level and help them find the meaning of life, self-fulfillment, hope, creativity, faith, trust, peace, comfort, prayer and the ability to love in the midst of suffering and illness (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e24\u003c/span\u003e). In addition, spiritual care seeks to help patients to face the fear of death, reduce uncertainty and discomfort in the treatment process and restore their inner peace (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e25\u003c/span\u003e). However, this dimension is deeply subjective and one's interpretation of spirituality depends on one's personal view of life (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e26\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFor this reason, helping to meet the spiritual needs of patients and their families is one of the main elements of clinical care (\u003cspan additionalcitationids=\"CR19\" citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e18\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e20\u003c/span\u003e) and it has been accepted as a broad part of nurses' responsibilities (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e). However, the providing of effective nursing care in this field requires the development of nurses' professional qualifications (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e), which provides the basis for expanding the knowledge, skills and attitudes of nurses through regular educational evaluations (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e27\u003c/span\u003e). However, in clinical work, nurses do not have full knowledge and understanding of spiritual care and spiritual care qualifications, which has caused most patients' spiritual needs to remain unfulfilled (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e28\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe results of Lin et al.'s study in examining nurses' understanding of spirituality and spiritual care and the factors affecting it have shown that nurses need necessary training in relation to spirituality and providing spiritual care to patients (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR29\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e29\u003c/span\u003e). Researchers have identified potential barriers to spiritual care, including insufficient education provision, negative attitudes toward spirituality or death, insufficient time at the patient's bedside, confusion about the role of nurses, incompetence, and avoidance of spiritual issues (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR30\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e30\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR31\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e31\u003c/span\u003e). Therefore, according to the essential role of spiritual care in the health and peace of patients and their families, the people providing this care should have sufficient spiritual competence and morals(\u003cspan citationid=\"CR32\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e32\u003c/span\u003e) and on the other hand, the desire of organizations providing health services in employing a skilled workforce has caused the competence of health-related professionals to be given more attention than before. Accordingly, competence is considered as a complex and ambiguous concept and one of the controversial issues in the field of health care. Various fields of nursing, including education, clinical and nursing management, become very important (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR33\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e33\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eCompetence in spiritual care refers to a set of skills used in the professional field or clinical nursing process, which includes nurse-patient therapeutic communication, being available to the patient, active listening, showing empathy and compassion, facilitating skills, Religious services for patients with specific religious beliefs help the patient and complete unfinished tasks and refer to a spiritual experts (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR34\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e34\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR35\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e35\u003c/span\u003e).therefore, considering the undeniable role that spiritual care can play in the health of patients The correct provision of spiritual care to patients requires that the providers of these cares have the necessary qualifications in this regard. For this purpose, the present study was designed and implemented with the aim of evaluating the competence of nurses in providing spiritual care to patients.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"METHODOLOGY","content":"\u003cp\u003eA cross-sectional, descriptive study was employed in this study; data were collected data were collected through January 20, 2024. The study was approved by the Ethical Committee of the Zahedan University of Medical Sciences. The research community consisted of all nurses working in educational Iranian hospital. After reviewing similar studies and using formulas to determine the sample size, 120 people were selected by multistage sampling method and included in the study. In this way, after obtaining the legal permits and referring to the above-mentioned hospitals, firstly, based on the number of nurses in each hospital, their percentage was calculated, and the samples were allocated to each hospital in the form of a quota, and in the second stage using systematic random sampling, we selected the desired sample. Inclusion criteria required that nurses be of Iranian nationality, have nursing certification, having at least six months of work experience in the aforementioned hospitals, having direct and continuous communication with the patient, have worked in different shifts and do not have many physical and mental problems. After obtaining legal permits and while assuring the confidentiality of personal information to the nurses, the questionnaire was distributed among them by the researcher without mentioning their names and then collected. A two-part questionnaire was used in this study. The first part of this questionnaire was related to the demographic information of nurses, and the second part was the Spiritual Care Competence Scale (SCCS) questionnaire, which was designed by Van Leeuwen and Casoler in 2004 (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR36\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e36\u003c/span\u003e). The validity and reliability of this scale has also been previously conducted in the study of Nasahi et al., entitled \"Evaluation of the competence of nursing students in providing spiritual care to patients\" (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e8\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn such a way, in their study, the return of the questionnaire to Farsi language was done back ward forward by two members of the faculty who are fluent in English, then the Farsi version was returned to English by two other people, and then the two English versions where Compatibility was checked by a person who was fluent in both languages. In order to check the content validity of the Persian version of the questionnaire, help was obtained from the opinions of the members of the academic staff. In this way, the tool was given to ten members of the scientific faculty of the nursing department to apply the questions of the questionnaire in terms of ease, clarity and relevance of the subject and their supplementary comments. In order to determine the reliability of the scale, Cronbach's alpha was used, and it was 0.87. It should be mentioned that the questionnaire mentioned in the study of Van Leeuwen. Casoler has been used in 2004 with an alpha coefficient of 0.56 to 0.82 (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR36\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e36\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis scale has 6 dimensions, the first dimension is \"examination and implementation of spiritual care, questions 6\u0026thinsp;\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1, the second dimension is \"professionalizing and improving the quality of spiritual care, questions (\u003cspan additionalcitationids=\"CR8 CR9 CR10 CR11\" citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e12\u003c/span\u003e), the third dimension is \"personal support and counseling of patients\" (questions 13\u0026ndash;18). The fourth dimension was \"referral\" (questions 19\u0026ndash;21), the fifth dimension was \"attitude towards the spirituality of the patient\" (questions 22\u0026ndash;25) and finally the sixth dimension was \"communication\" (questions 26\u0026ndash;27), the answers were completely based on a 5-point Likert scale. It is from completely agree to completely disagree, and it is scored from 5 to 10. The total score of this scale is between 27 and 135. The scoring of the scale in the current research was as follows: a score between 62\u0026thinsp;\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;27 indicates low spiritual competence, a score between 63\u0026ndash;98 indicates moderate competence and a score above 98 indicates high spiritual competence has been taken (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR33\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e33\u003c/span\u003e). Cronbach's alpha method was also used to determine the reliability of the tool in the present study.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eData analysis was done using SPSS version 22 software. to analyze data, descriptive Statistics were used. After checking the normality of the data based on Kolmegraph and Smironov tests, correlation between demographic data and spirituality and spiritual care mean score was examined by the Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients, t-test for independent groups, one-way ANOVA and multiple regression in A significance level of α\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.05 was used.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIt should be noted that this study is derived from the research plan approved by the Zahedan University of Medical Sciences. The ethical committee of the Zahedan University of Medical Sciences has approved this study with the ethical code \u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003ehttps://ethics.research.ac.ir/IR.ZAUMS.REC.1402.028\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan address=\"https://ethics.research.ac.ir/IR.ZAUMS.REC.1402.028\" targettype=\"URL\" class=\"RefTarget\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"RESULTS","content":"\u003cp\u003eFrom a total of 120 nurses participating in the study, 16% were male and 40/6% were women The results of the present study showed that 34 (16%) of the employees were male and 86 (40.6%) were female. 26.9% were less than 30 years old and 29.7% were more than 30 years old, 15.1% were single and 41% were married,42.5% were working in Noncritical care and 14.2% were working in Critical care. 18.9% were Full-time and 37.7% were part-time, 17.9% had less than 10 years and 38.1% had more than 10 years of work experience. The results showed that the mean score of participants\u0026rsquo;competency spiritual care was 64.80\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;15.57.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTable\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e shows the mean scores Competence of spiritual care According to demographics and the independent t-test results.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDemographic characteristics and differences in spiritual care competence\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"5\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eVariable\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCategory\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMean\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;SD\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003et-test\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eANOVA\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGender\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFemale\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e64.59\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;15.58\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.818\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003emale\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e65.33\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;15.75\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003emarital status\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSingle\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e65.06\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;18.23\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.94\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003emarried\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e64.83\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;14.46\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAge\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eless than30 years\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e64.16\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;15.48\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.684\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003emore than30 years\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e65.35\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;15.75\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eType of hospital ward\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCritical care\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e61.75\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;16.48\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.23\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNon critical care\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e65.77\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;15.24\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEmployment status\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFull-time\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e64. 03\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;15. 67\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.46\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePart-time\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e66. 30\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;15.46\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"2\" rowspan=\"3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eWork experience (years)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eless than10 years\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e69. 30\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;13.46\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\" morerows=\"2\" rowspan=\"3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\" morerows=\"2\" rowspan=\"3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.34\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10\u0026ndash;20 years\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e68. 50\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;12.49\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003emore than20 years\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e68. 44\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;12.48\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"DISCUSSION","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlthough spiritual care is a familiar term in nursing and most nursing models deal with concept of spirituality, and spiritual care is widely recognized as one of the essential aspects of clinical care, but still not enough attention is paid to this aspect of care) 37) and the results of the present study showed that the professional qualification of nurses in the field of providing spiritual care is not very favorable. The study of Adib Haj Bagheri et al (2015), with the title of examining the professional competence of nurses in the field of spiritual care in Kashan city, also showed that the professional competence of nurses in the field of providing spiritual care, especially considering the Islamic culture of the society, is not very desirable (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR32\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e32\u003c/span\u003e). Meanwhile, Machul et al., in a study they conducted on Polish nurses with the aim of psychometrically measuring the spiritual care competency scale, showed that nurses' spiritual care competency is at a high level (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR38\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e38\u003c/span\u003e). The results of these study was not consistent with the results of the present study. In the explanation of this finding, it can be said that the cultural difference of societies as well as the type of nursing education provided can be one of the reasons for this difference. Research generally shows that nurses who are trained in spiritual care are better able to provide spiritual care to patients (\u003cspan additionalcitationids=\"CR40\" citationid=\"CR39\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e39\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan citationid=\"CR41\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e41\u003c/span\u003e). Adib Haj Bagheri and colleagues also showed in another study that nurses are facing problems in providing spiritual care due to lack of training in this field (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR42\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e42\u003c/span\u003e).The results of the present study also show that there is no significant difference between the professional qualification of nurses and the type of department and hospital in which they work. This finding is in contrast to the findings of Adib Haj Bagheri et al. In their study, they showed that the qualification scores of nurses in special care and psychiatric departments are higher (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR33\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e33\u003c/span\u003e). The results of the present study also showed that there is no correlation between demographic variables and professional competence of nurses in spiritual care, which is consistent with the findings of studies by Guo et al (2022). They also showed in their study that there is no significant difference between the professional competence of nursing students and demographic variables. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e18\u003c/span\u003e), which is in line with the findings of Abusafia et al 2021 (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR43\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e43\u003c/span\u003e) and Atarhim et al (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR44\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e44\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"CONCLUSION","content":"\u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAlthough spiritual care is an essential element in holistic care, nurses' knowledge and skills are often unable to meet patients' spiritual care needs, and most of them have not received training in spiritual care. These findings show that it is necessary to conduct more studies on spirituality and spiritual care in Iran. Therefore, it is recommended that patients' spiritual needs should be met along with their physical and mental needs, spiritual care should be included in the design of the nursing program, and people should be given the opportunity to acquire skills and competencies in spiritual care. Limitations of this study include the small number of nurses participating and the study being conducted in a limited scientific setting. Therefore, it is suggested that future research assess nurses' professional competence in spiritual care in a broader setting.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEthics approval and consent to participate:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe project was approved by the institutional review board of \u0026nbsp;Zahedan University of Medical Sciences(IR.ZAUMS.REC.1402.028).https://ethics.research.ac.ir/IR.ZAUMS.REC.1402.028 .When recruiting participants, the purpose of the study was clearly explained. Then, informed consent (written and oral) was obtained. We granted the right to the participants to decline or cease participation at any time. They were assured of the confidentiality of all the gathered data and also of sharing the results with them upon their request. To ensure the anonymity of the participants\u0026rsquo; identity, we used abbreviations. This study was carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAvailability of data and materials:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe datasets used and analysed in the current study can be made available by the corresponding author upon reasonable request.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConflict interests:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors declare that they have no conflict interests.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConsent for publication:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot Applicable.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAvailability of data and material:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot Applicable.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFunding:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;No funding.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthors\u0026apos; contributions:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMS and SM designed the project. MS\u0026nbsp;managed the project and collected all the interviews and field notes.\u0026nbsp;MS and SM analysed the qualitative data. MS\u0026nbsp;and\u0026nbsp;SM\u0026nbsp; Were responsible for manuscript preparation.\u0026nbsp;All authors contributed towards reviewing the paper before submission. The author(s) read and approved the final manuscript.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAcknowledgements:\u003c/strong\u003eWe hereby thank and appreciate all the participants who participated in this research. It should be noted that this study is derived from the approved research plan of Zahedan University of Medical Sciences. The ethical committee of Zahedan University of Medical Sciences has approved this study with the ethical code (IR.ZAUMS.REC.1402.028).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eClinical Resources:\u003c/strong\u003eAmerican Nurses Association. Spirituality and the nursing profession. https://engage.healthy nurse healthy nation.org/blogs/8/3581.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGiske TS-AA, B\u0026oslash; B, Cone H, Moene Kuven P, Mcsherry B, Owusu W, Ueland B, Lassche-Scheffer V, van Leeuwen J, Ross R. Developing and testing the EPICC spiritual care competency self-assessment tool for student nurses and midwives. J Clin Nurs. 2022;32:1148\u0026ndash;62. [Persian].\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGuo ZZY, Li P, Zhang Q, Shi C. Student nurses' spiritual care competence and attitude:An online survey. Nurs open. 2023;10:1811\u0026ndash;20. .[Persian].\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHu Y, Jiao M, Li F. Effectiveness of spiritual care training to enhance spiritual health and spiritual care competency among oncology nurses. 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[Persian].\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Spirituality, Professional Competence, Nursing","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4421450/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4421450/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIntroduction:\u003c/strong\u003e Spiritual care is a main element of holistic nursing and can help improve the health of patients. One of the necessary things to provide proper spiritual care to patients is to have the necessary competence in this regard.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMethods and Materials:\u003c/strong\u003e The present descriptive-analytical study was conducted with the aim of determining the competency spiritual care on 120 nurses working \u0026nbsp;in educational Iranian hospital in2024. The data collection tool was a questionnaire (competency scale was spiritual care)Data analysis was done using spss22 software and descriptive tests, independent t analysis and Pearson's correlation coefficient.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eResults:\u003c/strong\u003e The results of the present study showed that the average score of nurses' spiritual care qualification is 64.80 ± 15.57, which shows that the professional qualification score of nurses is low.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConclusion:\u003c/strong\u003estrengthening the moral and spiritual foundations of nurses, developing a coherent educational program and content, and applying appropriate educational strategies by nursing managers can improve the provision of spiritual care to patients by nurses.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eClinical Relevance:\u003c/strong\u003e Spirituality is the essential aspect of care and it can improve the health of people who Under the influence acute, chronic and severe physical or emotional diseases are located to help.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Examining the competency of spiritual care in Iranian Nurses ","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2024-07-11 07:33:14","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4421450/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"e66a24d7-a6b4-4c52-9186-b95b7e1ca410","owner":[],"postedDate":"July 11th, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2024-07-29T05:53:46+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2024-07-11 07:33:14","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-4421450","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-4421450","identity":"rs-4421450","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"qtupq5eGEP_6zYnWcrvyt","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}