Student nurses' perspectives of spirituality and spiritual care

Mthembu, T.G. et al. (2016). A cross-sectional descriptive study of occupational therapy students' perceptions and attitudes towards spirituality and spiritual care in occupational therapy education. Journal of religion and Health, 55: 1529Health, 55: -1545 Abstract Spirituality and spiritual care both have received increased attention over the course of this past decade from different disciplines. However, for many years, in the occupational therapy profession, the importance of spirituality and spiritual care seems to be controversial because it is unclear how these concepts are integrated in occupational therapy education. Although occupational therapy students are being educated to consider a holistic and client-centred approach, spirituality is not regarded within this framework which diminishes the integrity of holistic approach. In South African occupational therapy education, it is unclear whether any single course on teaching and learning of spirituality and spiritual care exists. Thus, the aim of this study was to describe occupational therapy students' perceptions and attitudes regarding spirituality and spiritual care in occupational therapy education. A cross-sectional descriptive study design of undergraduate occupational therapy students from one educational institution was used. Data included demographic characteristics, responses on Spiritual Care-Giving Scale (SCGS), Spiritual and Spiritual Care Rating Scale (SSCRS) and Spirituality in Occupational Therapy Scale (SOTS). A response rate of 50.5 % (n = 100 out of 198) was achieved. In the SCGS, among the factors only factor 1 had the highest mean value score showing consistent agreement about spirituality, whereas in the SSCRS only three factors were found to have highest mean score and one with lowest mean score. In SOTS, participants had a highest score mean in relation to formal education and training about spirituality. Thus, in the integration of spirituality and spiritual care a holistic approach needs to be considered in education to enhance students' knowledge of how to address mind, body and spirit needs. IntroductionSpirituality and spiritual care both have received increased attention over the course of this past decade from different disciplines. With regard to the definition of spirituality, research has shown that there are various definitions used. For instance, Csontó (2009) and Kang (2003) point out that the scarcity of an acceptable definition of spirituality results in a challenge for practising students and occupational therapists. Therefore, for the purpose of this study Puchalski et al.'s (2014) definition was adopted defining spirituality as:

show abstract

“…This in contrast with the findings of Tiew et al (2013a) that student nurses perceived spiritual care as an integral component of human beings.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…Similar findings were found in previous studies which suggest that females, rather than males, tend to study within the health field such as social work and nursing which indicated greater numbers of women students (Bhagwana 2010;Tiew et al 2013a;Wong et al 2008;Tiew et al 2013b;Ross et al 2013). …”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

A Cross-Sectional Descriptive Study of Occupational Therapy Students’ Perceptions and Attitudes Towards Spirituality and Spiritual Care in Occupational Therapy Education

2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The literature suggests that, spiritual awareness is necessary for spiritual assessment (Pesut, 2002, Baldacchino, 2008a, Tiew et al, 2013, and specific education on spirituality provide a broader view of diverse beliefs Drury, 2012, Wallace et al, 2008) and enabled students to grow in terms of sensitivity to their personal spiritual agendas (Baldacchino, 2008a).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, this was a small study and Tiew et al (2013) went on to conduct a survey of 745 student nurses in Singapore to investigate perceptions of spirituality and spiritual care, using a spiritual care-giving scale (SCGS) (Tiew and Creedy, 2012).…”

Section: Spiritual Awarenessmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To this end, Tiew et al (2013), believe that , individual reflection, spiritual guidance, experiential activities and in-depth discussion in the clinical setting, are more effective than mere class-based activities. Further support for experiential spiritual care learning comes from Catanzaro and McMullen (2001), who observed positive results, from teaching strategies in a community experience course.…”

Section: Spiritual Competencementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation