Effects of spiritual care training on improving nurses' spiritual well-being and perceptions of spiritual care

Objective To explore the influence of spiritual care training program on nurses' spiritual well-being and spiritual care competency. Methods From March to September 2018, a total of 80 nurses working in a provincial cancer hospital were recruited by voluntary registration to participate in this study. They were randomly divided into experimental group (n=40) and control group (n=40) by random number table. The experimental group received the specially designed spiritual care training twice a month for 6 consecutive months on the basis of regular vocational studies. The main forms included expert lectures, group interventions, providing spiritual care for cancer patients, and clinical case reporting. The control group participated in the vocational study organized by the hospital for 6 consecutive months. Before and after the training, the Nurses' Spiritual Health Scale and the Spiritual Care Cognitive Scale were used to investigate and test the nurses in two groups, and the implementation effect was compared. Results After 6 months of training, the total scores of Nurses' Spiritual Health Scale and the Spiritual Care Cognitive Scale in the experimental group were (106.30±8.72) and (185.75±16.53) , which were higher than those in the control group, and the differences were statistically significant (t=5.38, 4.52; P<0.01) ; the scores in each dimension were also higher than those in the control group, and the differences were statistically significant (t=2.22-5.22, P<0.05) . And in the experimental group the total scores and scores in each dimension of Nurses' Spiritual Health Scale and the Spiritual Care Cognitive Scale after the intervention were higher than before the intervention, and the differences were statistically significant (t=3.18-8.99, P<0.01) . Conclusions The spiritual care training program based on the concept of self-growth with patients can improve nurses' spiritual well-being and nurses' perceptions of spiritual care. Key words: Nurses; Spiritual care; Spiritual well-being; Perceptions of spiritual care