The following are worthy of further investigation: whether the pilot study findings hold in student samples from more diverse cultural backgrounds; whether students' perceptions of spirituality can be broadened to include the full range of spiritual needs patients may encounter and whether their competence can be enhanced by education to better equip them to deliver spiritual care; identification of factors contributing to acquisition of spiritual caring skills and spiritual care competency.

We have provided the first international evidence that perceived spiritual care competence is developed in undergraduate nursing and midwifery students and that students' perceptions of spirituality and personal spirituality contribute to that development. Implications for teaching and learning and student selection are discussed. The study is limited by attrition which is common in longitudinal research.

Background: The spiritual part of life is important to health, wellbeing and quality of life. Spiritual care is expected of nurses/midwives, but it is not clear how students can achieve competency in spiritual care at point of registration as required by regulatory bodies. Aim: to explore factors contributing to undergraduate nurses'/midwives' perceived competency in giving spiritual care. Design: a pilot cross-sectional, multinational, correlational survey design. Method: Questionnaires were completed by 86% (n=531) of a convenience sample of 618 undergraduate nurses/midwives from 6 universities in 4 countries in 2010. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed. Results: Differences between groups were small. Two factors were significantly related to perceived spiritual care competency: perception of spirituality/spiritual care; student's personal spirituality. Students reporting higher perceived competency viewed spirituality/spiritual care broadly, not just in religious terms. This association between perceived competency and perception of spirituality is a new finding not previously reported. Further results reinforce findings in the literature that own spirituality was a strong predictor of perceived ability to provide spiritual care, as students reporting higher perceived competency engaged in spiritual activities, were from secular universities and had previous healthcare experience. They were also religious, practised their faith/belief and scored highly on spiritual wellbeing and spiritual attitude/involvement. Conclusions: The challenge for nurse/midwifery educators is how they might enhance spiritual care competency in students who are not religious and how they might encourage students who hold a narrow view of spirituality/spiritual care to broaden their perspective to include the full range of spiritual concerns that patients/clients may encounter. Statistical models created predicted factors contributing to spiritual care competency to some extent but the picture is complex requiring further investigation involving a bigger and more diverse longitudinal sample. 2006-10. British Journal of Nursing 20 (12), 743-749 Cockell, N., and McSherry, W., 2012. Spiritual Table 1 The tools need to include psychometric support with citations. Subscales need to be conceptually defined to provide further insight into the findings. ABSTRACT Background: The spiritual part of life is important to health, wellbeing and quality of life. Spiritual care is expected of nurses/midwives, but it is not clear how students can achieve competency in spiritual care at point of registration as required by regulatory bodies. Aim: to explore factors contributing to undergraduate nurses'/midwives' perceived competency in giving spiritual care. Design: a pilot crosssectional, multinational, correlational survey design. Method: Questionnaires were completed by 86% (n=531) of a convenience sample of 618 undergraduate nurses/midwives from 6 universities in 4 countries in 2010. Bivariate and multivariate analy...

This paper shows similarities and differences in perceptions and competences regarding spirituality and spiritual care of nurses in different health care settings. Research on this specific topic is limited and can contribute towards a nuanced implementation of spiritual care in different nursing care settings. Four hundred forty nine nurses in different health care settings completed a questionnaire concerning spirituality and spiritual care, spiritual care competence, and personal spirituality. Respondents reported a generic (instead of more specific) view of spirituality and spiritual care, and they perceived themselves to be competent in providing spiritual care. Compared to nurses in hospital settings, nurses in mental health care and home care have a more generic view of spirituality and spiritual care and report a higher level of competence. Next to this, they perceive themselves more as spiritual persons. Future research is needed to develop further understanding in setting specific factors and their influence on nurses' views and competence regarding spiritual care. Nursing education and management should consider an emphasis on spiritual competence development related to working settings of nurses.

No abstract