The development of a consensus‐based spiritual care education standard for undergraduate nursing and midwifery students: An educational mixed methods study

Abstract

The aim of this study was to develop a consensus-based Spiritual Care Education Standard for undergraduate N/M students to use in undergraduate programmes. Design: Mixed methods were used consisting of qualitative and quantitative methods based on the principles of Delphi research. Methods: The sample consisted of a total of 58 (N = 58) participants from 21 European countries. Data collection was conducted from June 2017-February 2019 and took place in facilitated iterative action learning cycles and online surveys. Data were analysed by descriptive statistics and qualitative analysis. Consensus was stated by >90% agreement. Results: The process resulted in an EPICC Spiritual Care Education Standard consisting of the following four spiritual care competences: Intrapersonal spirituality, Interpersonal spirituality, Spiritual care: assessment and planning, Spiritual care: intervention and evaluation. For every competence, learning outcomes were described in knowledge, skills and attitudes. Conclusion: This Standard guides N/M spiritual care education, student assessment and research. It can be the starting point for discussing spiritual care competences in other healthcare professions. Follow-up research should focus on implementation of the standard and on assessment of students' spiritual competence. Impact: The Standard guides curriculum and programme development. The Standard guides students in performing their learning process. The Standard provides a frame of reference for policy making and follow-up research.

Competencies of nursing students in the provision of spiritual care and the factors affecting spiritual caregiving

“…It is important that the adequacy and availability of this education should be approached within the frame of an international common standard. Towards this goal, Van Leeuwen et al (2021) established the Spiritual Care Education Standard to be used for spiritual care education in undergraduate nursing education programs, with the participation of 21 European countries. Evaluations based on education programs are given with these standards would be useful for educators to determine whether the nursing students meet the spiritual care practices and spiritual care competence.…”

Mental Health Staff Perspectives on Spiritual Care Competencies in Norway: A Pilot Study

“…The survey instrument is a recently developed and tested EPICC Spiritual Care Competency Self-Assessment Tool, hereafter called the "Tool, " with parametric testing that showed its validity and reliability as an instrument. Developed from the EPICC 1 Spiritual Care Educational Competence (SCEC) Standard for bachelor students (McSherry et al, 2020;van Leeuwen et al, 2020), the Tool provides an opportunity to personally assess one's competencies, based on the elements of the EPICC SCEC Standard, and to evaluate one's growth when used again over time. The Tool includes 28 questions where participants can score their knowledge, skills and attitudes on a 5-point Likert scale addressing four areas of spiritual care competencies;…”

Experiences Related to Patients and Families’ Expression of Spiritual Needs or Spiritual Support Within Healthcare Settings During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Scoping Review

“…At the same time, there is a growing interest in spiritual care provision by nurses across the globe (Fang et al, 2022 ; van Leeuwen et al, 2021 ; Wu et al, 2016 ). Indeed, there are moves internationally for spiritual care and spiritual support to form part of the nurse’s role, most recently elucidated within the European Erasmus Plus Project- Enhancing Nurses and Midwives' Competence in Providing Spiritual Care through Innovation, Education and Compassionate Care (EPICC, 2021 ).…”

“…These activities are carried out in close collaboration with healthcare chaplains, where relevant, as referral to chaplains or pastoral care services are a key feature within these competencies. For nurses, EPICC define spirituality 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 to the moment, to self, to others, to nature, to the significant and/or the sacred” (EPICC, 2021 ) While there is growing interest in the nurse’s role in the provision of spiritual support (van Leeuwen et al, 2021 ), one would expect this to have been reflected and indeed exacerbated in the literature during the COVID-19 pandemic. While new ways of providing end-of-life care and other types of care certainly emerged (Bowers et al, 2021 ), and from the public’s perspective spirituality seemed to have become increasingly valued (Papadopoulos et al, 2020 ), it is important to know whether or not supporting spiritual needs by nurses increased within this context and what support patients and families required.…”