Assessing the Spiritual Care Competence of Nurses in the Special Care Units for COVID-19 in Teaching Hospitals in Arak, Iran

Nurses are the largest group of healthcare providers, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients with COVID-19 are in dire need of spiritual care due to being alone in quarantine, away from their families. The present study aims to assess the spiritual care competence of nurses in the special care units for COVID-19 in teaching hospitals in Arak, Iran 

This is a descriptive cross-sectional study. Participants were 142 nurses working in the special care units for COVID-19 in hospitals affiliated to Arak University of Medical Sciences in 2022, who were selected by a census method. The data collection tool was the spiritual care competence scale. The data were analyzed in SPSS software, version 16.

The mean total score of spiritual care competence was 100.71±14.45, which was higher than the median score of 81. The spiritual care competence had a significant relationship with marital status (P=0.044), willingness to work overtime (P<0.001), age (P=0.011), total work experience (P=0.03), and work experience in the special care unit (P=0.025), such that spiritual care competence was higher in older married nurses with a willingness to work overtime and a higher work experience.

The spiritual care competence of nurses in the study hospitals is at a favorable level. The results of this study can help future studies in improving the quality of nursing care and the competence of nurses in spiritual care.