Assessment of spiritual care competency and influencing factors among nurses at the National Institute of Cancer Care, Sri Lanka: a descriptive cross-sectional study.

Abstract

Spiritual care is a key element of holistic nursing care, highlighted in the nursing process for addressing patients' spiritual needs. This study aimed to identify the level of spiritual care competence among nurses and factors influencing spiritual care provision for patients with cancer at the National Institute of Cancer Care (NICC), Sri Lanka. A descriptive cross-sectional study. NICC, Sri Lanka (Apeksha Hospital). 220 purposively selected nurses at the NICC from January to March 2023. Sociodemographic characteristics were collected through a self-administered questionnaire. The study used a pretested and reliability checked, validated 27-item Spiritual Care Competency Scale (SCCS), with scores ranging from 27 to 135 on a 5-point Likert Scale. Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation were analysed using SPSS (V.25). The response rate was 86.6%. Among the 220 participants, the mean age was 33.66 years, with 95.91% (n=211) being female. Most learnt about spiritual care via hospital manuals (n=62, 28.18%). The Cronbach alpha value for the SCCS was 0.88. The mean spiritual care competency score was 100.71±10.60, with highest competencies in communication and professionalisation (4.09 and 4.8). Significant associations were found between spiritual care competency and in-service education (p=0.018), age (β=0.155, p=0.021), working experience (β=0.181, p=0.007), time for family commitment (p=0.006) and marital status (p=0.001). Spiritual care competency among nurses at the NICC was moderate. To enhance competency, it is recommended to implement structured, continuous in-service education programmes on spiritual care practices. Additionally, support should be provided for nurses' personal and professional development, addressing factors such as work-life balance and family commitments.