The Spiritual Care Competence Scale: A Confirmatory Study of the Malay Language Version

Background: Nursing competency is an integral part of providing patients with spiritual care. The aim ofthis study was to validate the translation of the spiritual care competence (SCC) scale to the Malay languageversion.Methods: The cross-section study design applicable to the SCCS-M self-report questionnaire. Data werecollected from staff nurses at the hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia. A total of 270 nurses participated inthis study. Spiritual care competence was assessed with the 27-item SCC-M. Standard forward–backwardtranslation was performed to translate the English version of the SCC into the Malay version (SCC-M). Allthe participants completed the SCC-M.Results: The initial measurement models tested (6-factor models) did not result in a good fit to the data.Subsequent investigation of the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) results recommended some modifications,including adding correlations between the item residuals within the same latent variable. These modificationsresulted in acceptable fit indices for the 6-factor model: root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA)= .050, comparative fit index (CFI) = .900, Tucker–Lewis index (TLI) = .885, and standardized root meansquare residual (SRMR) = .065. The final measurement models comprised all 27 SCC-M items, which hadsignificant factor loadings of more than .40. The composite reliability was .696-.853 for 6-factors model.Conclusions: These results suggest that the subscales in 6-factor SCC-M model are unique, the factors donot overlap much, and each factor explains different variance than the other factors. Therefore, the translatedversion of the SCC-M was valid and reliable for assessing the level of spiritual care competence amonghospital nurses in Malaysia.