Developing and testing the EPICC Spiritual Care Competency Self‐Assessment Tool for student nurses and midwives

Abstract

Aims and objectives: To develop and psychometrically test a self-assessment tool that measures undergraduate nursing and midwifery students' perceptions of spiritual care competence in health care practice.Background: Spiritual care is part of nurses/midwives' responsibility. There is a need to better benchmark students' competency development in spiritual care through their education. The EPICC Spiritual Care Education Standard served as groundwork for the development of the EPICC Spiritual Care Competency Self-Assessment Tool.Design: Cross sectional, mixed methods design. A STROBE checklist was used. Methods:The Tool (available in English, Dutch and Norwegian) was developed by an international group. It was tested between July-October 2020 with a convenience sample of 323 nursing/midwifery students at eight universities in five countries. The Tool was tested for validity using Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) test, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, one-way ANOVA and independent samples t test. The reliability was tested by Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis. Results:The KMO test for sampling adequacy was 0.90. All, but two, items were related to the same factor. Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the Tool was 0.91. Students found the Tool easy to use, and they gained new insights by completing it. However, students felt that some questions were repetitive and took time to complete. Conclusions:The Tool has construct and discriminant validity, and high internal consistency (is reliable). In addition, students found the Tool useful, especially in early stages of education. Relevance to clinical practice:The Tool affords student nurses and midwives the opportunity to self-evaluate their knowledge, skills and attitudes about spirituality and spiritual care. The Tool offers students, educators and preceptors in clinical practice a tangible way of discussing and evaluating spiritual care competency.

Association between spiritual care competency and perceived professional benefit among nurses: A cross‐sectional study

“…However, there is no unified definition of spirituality at home and abroad. According to recent research, spirituality is defined as the dynamic dimension of human life that relates to the way persons (individual and community) experience; express and/or seek meaning, purpose and transcendence; and the way they connect (Giske et al, 2022). The spiritual field is multidimensional and includes existential challenges, value‐based considerations and attitudes, religious considerations and foundation (Giske et al, 2022).…”

“…According to recent research, spirituality is defined as the dynamic dimension of human life that relates to the way persons (individual and community) experience; express and/or seek meaning, purpose and transcendence; and the way they connect (Giske et al, 2022). The spiritual field is multidimensional and includes existential challenges, value‐based considerations and attitudes, religious considerations and foundation (Giske et al, 2022). Spiritual care is defined as care that recognizes and responds to the human spirit when faced with life‐changing events (such as birth, trauma, ill health and loss) or sadness and can include the need for meaning; for self‐worth; to express oneself; for faith support, perhaps for rites, prayer or sacrament; or simply for a sensitive listener (van Leeuwen et al, 2021).…”

Strengths and challenges with spiritual care: Student feedback from the EPICC Spiritual Care Self‐Assessment Tool

“…The hope was that such a tool could measure student and nurse competencies in spiritual care (van Leeuwen et al, 2020 ) in order to enhance the effectiveness of healthcare providers in nursing and midwifery to provide or facilitate spiritual care (McSherry et al, 2020 ; Ross et al, 2014 ). The EPICC Spiritual Care Competency Self‐Assessment Tool, hereafter called the Tool (Giske et al, 2022 ), was based on the work of the EPICC Network of scholars who previously developed and published (Ross et al, 2022 ; van Leeuwen et al, 2020 ) the EPICC Spiritual Care Educational Standard for bachelor competencies in spiritual care ( www.epicc‐network.org ).…”

E-Assessment: Character of Students in Elementary School

“…Assessment using digital e-assessment technology provides its own benefits in supporting all learning activities [50][51][52]. With the eassessment, it will support and facilitate teachers in assessing student character [53][54][55]. Character assessment using e-assessment provides so many benefits [56][57].…”