Spiritual Health in Nurses, Nursing Faculties, and Nursing Students of Jahrom University of Medical Sciences, Iran

Spiritual health is an important aspect of health, which shows the good relationship of an individual with God and a sense of harmony between himself, God, and life. Nursing profession is associated with numerous stressful encounters in the workplace, such as death and illness. Nurses, nursing faculties, and students are the three main groups in this profession who could largely benefit from spirituality in personal, professional, and organizational dimensions. One of the main benefits of spiritual health in the nursing profession is the improvement of mental health and quality of care. The present study aimed to determine the status of spiritual health in the nurses, nursing faculties, and nursing students of Jahrom University of Medical Sciences, Iran.

This descriptive study was conducted on 455 participants (268 nurses, 31 lecturers, and 156 nursing students) at Jahrom University of Medical Sciences in 2018. The participants were selected via census sampling. Data were collected using a comprehensive questionnaire to measure spiritual health in the Iranian population and a demographic questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of 48 items and two cognitive/emotional (insight/orientation) and behavioral (performance) components. The total score of the questionnaire was 100. The questionnaire was provided to the subjects by two research assistants and completed in a self-report manner after obtaining informed consent. Data analysis was performed in SPSS version 16 using descriptive statistics (frequency, frequency percentage, mean, and standard deviation) and analytical statistics (independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, and Scheffe post-hoc test).

The mean age of the participants was 27.19 ± 6.68 years. The mean score of spiritual health was estimated at 79.89 ± 11.87, and achieving approximately 80% of the total score indicated the favorable spiritual health of the participants. In addition, the mean scores of the cognitive/emotional and behavioral components of spiritual health were 82.28 ± 11.93 and 75.45 ± 11.99, respectively. The mean score of spiritual health was 84.58 ± 9.58 in the nurses, 86.67 ± 11.15 in the nursing faculties, and 68.44 ± 14.55 in the nursing students. A significant correlation was observed between age and spiritual health (r=0.362). The mean score of spiritual health was significantly higher in women compared to men (P=0.001). The spiritual health of the participants with the work experience of more than five years had no significant difference with those with less work experience (P=0.507). Moreover, years of teaching had no effect on the spiritual health of the faculty members (P=0.57). Participation in spirituality courses also had no significant effect on the score of spiritual health (P=0.658). First-year students had higher a spiritual health level compared to the senior students (P=0.007).

In this study, the participants achieved nearly 80% of the total score, which indicated their favorable spiritual health status. It seems that the religious nature of the Iranian culture and the tendency to preserve spiritual values have been effective in achieving these results. The nurses in our study attained 84% of the spiritual health score. Since Islam is the main religion of the Iranian community, religious beliefs are an integral part of peoplechr('39')s lives, and attention to the spiritual issues of patients is inevitable. This makes nurses more sensitive to the concept of spirituality, and they managed to achieve spiritual health as a result. According to the results, the nursing faculties also achieved 84% of the total score, which indicated that they are acceptable role models to their students and have great spiritual capacity to teach spiritual concepts. Meanwhile, the nursing students achieved approximately 70% of the spiritual health total score. Nursing students enjoy respecting, helping, giving hope, and supporting other, and such actions enhance their spiritually. Given the importance of spiritual health in nurses in personal, professional, and organizational dimensions, maintaining and promoting these values are of utmost importance. Therefore, the recognition of the factors with constructive or destructive effects on the spiritual health of nurses should be considered by authorities. Considering the favorable spiritual health of nurses and nursing faculties and their close interactions with nursing students, it is recommended that the spiritual capacity of nurses and nursing faculties be exploited through proper planning and teaching of spiritual concepts to nursing students. Furthermore, the integration of the concepts associated with spirituality in the nursing curriculum and providing executive guarantees for the teaching of these concepts by authorities are highly recommended. Efficient training courses should also be planned and implemented in the form of in-service training in order to promote the spiritual health of nurses and nursing faculties.