Nursing Students' Perception Levels of Spirituality and Spiritual Care in Turkey

The present study was conducted to determine nursing students' perception levels of spirituality and spiritual care and the factors affecting these levels. The study was carried out in the nursing faculty of a university located in eastern Turkey between April and June 2019. The study population was made up of students studying within a department of nursing (n = 1250), and involved a sample size of 420 students, determined by power analysis. Data were obtained from an 'Introductory Information Form' that included students' sociodemographic characteristics and questions related to spiritual care and the Spirituality and Spiritual Care Rating Scale (SSCRS). Students scored, on average, 59.8 +/- 9.7 on the SSCRS. Gender, year of undergraduate education, father's education level, knowledge of spiritual care, beliefs on the relationship between spiritual care and nursing care, and the ability to meet patients' spiritual needs were variables with an impact on the total SSCRS scores (p < 0.05). The findings show that spiritual care perception levels of nursing students were high.