Psychometric properties of the Chinese mainland version of the Palliative Care Spiritual Care Competency Scale (PCSCCS-M) in nursing: a cross-sectional study

Assessment of psychometric properties of the Persian version of the spiritual care competency self-assessment tool

BACKGROUND

Spiritual care is essential for the health and well-being of patients and their families, so nursing and midwifery students should have professional competency in this field.

OBJECTIVES

The present study aimed to translate the Spiritual Care Competency Self-Assessment Tool for nursing and midwifery students into Persian and evaluate its psychometric properties.

METHODS

This study has a methodological study design.

METHODS MEASURES

The present study was conducted from July 4 to November 19, 2023, at the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery in west of Iran. The tool was translated into Persian using the forward-backward translation method. The construct validity was examined using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with a total of 536 nursing and midwifery students. The internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Also, the reliability of the tool was evaluated using the test-retest method. SPSS version 26 and Lisrel version 8 software were used in this study.

RESULTS

Face and content validity was confirmed quantitatively and qualitatively. The results of EFA and CFA confirmed the tool with 4 factors and 28 items. CFA results indicated a well-fitting model (comparative fit index [CFI] = .97, Non-Normed Fit Index (NNFI) = .92, goodness of fit index [GFI] = .91, root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA] = .05, Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR) = .046). Pearson's correlation coefficient confirmed a significant relationship between items, subscales, and the main scale. Also, Cronbach's alpha coefficient (.968) and test-retest (.867) confirmed the reliability of the Persian version of the tool.

CONCLUSION

The present study showed that the Persian version of the EPICC Spiritual Care, with 4 factors and 28 items, was suitable for validation and that its psychometric properties were acceptable according to COSMIN criteria. In general, the results showed that the Persian version of the EPICC Spiritual Care is a valid and reliable tool that students, preceptors, and educators can use in clinical settings as a practical way of discussing and evaluating spiritual care competency in Iran.

Analysis of influencing factors of orthopedic nurses' spiritual care competencies based on structural equation model

Purpose

To comprehensively understand the spiritual care competencies of orthopedic nurses and analyze the factors that affect them.

Methods

This study employed convenience sampling to conduct a cross-sectional survey among orthopedic nurses at Hefei First People's Hospital. Data was collected utilizing a general information questionnaire, alongside the Chinese versions of the Spiritual Care Competence Scale, the Spiritual Care Perspective Scale, the Professional Identity Assessment Scale, and the Hospital Ethical Climate Scale. Guided by the Person-Environment Fit theory and the Triadic Reciprocal Determinism theory, a structural equation model was utilized to analyze the influencing factors and pathways related to the spiritual care competence of orthopedic nurses.

Results

A total of 112 valid questionnaires were obtained, yielding an overall score of 68.92 ± 11.03 for orthopedic nurses' spiritual care competencies, with an average score of 3.14 ± 0.50 per item. The results of the Pearson correlation analysis revealed a significant positive correlation (all P < 0.01) between spiritual care competence and the scores for spiritual care perspective, professional identity assessment, and hospital ethical climate. The spiritual care perspective, professional identity, and hospital ethical climate emerged as the influencing factors of orthopedic nurses' spiritual care competence, exhibiting total effects of 0.30, 0.53, and 0.85, respectively. Notably, the hospital ethical climate exerts an indirect influence on spiritual care competence through the mediation of spiritual care perspective and professional identity, with the indirect effect accounting for 61.18% of the total effect.

Conclusion

There remains significant potential for enhancing the spiritual care competencies of orthopedic nurses. The hospital's ethical climate not only has a direct and positive impact on spiritual care competence but also indirectly influences it through the lens of nurses' spiritual care perspectives and professional identity assessments. Hospital administrators may wish to consider strategies for bolstering the hospital's ethical climate, fostering a deeper spiritual care perspective and heightened professional identity among nurses, and ultimately improving their spiritual care competence.

Spiritual Intelligence and Spiritual Care in Nursing Practice: A Bibliometric Review

Spiritual intelligence (SI) has recently gained traction in various fields, including nursing. Given the increasing emphasis on patient-centred care and the holistic well-being of patients and nurses, SI is particularly relevant in nursing practice. A bibliometric analysis of recent publications (2014-2024) in the field helps synthesise and evaluate the existing research on SI in the general field of nursing, identify literature gaps, suggest future research directions and raise awareness of the importance of SI in nursing practice. The present study reports bibliometric data (n = 461) from the Scopus database on SI, spiritual quotient and spiritual care in nursing and health care. The data are analysed using MS Excel and VOSviewer software. The publications' trend analysis revealed a significant increase in SI-related publications since 2015. The study presents top-cited articles. Journal of Religion and Health was found to be a prominent journal with the maximum number of publications, and Sage was found to be the top publisher of journals with articles on SI. Network visualisation reveals central figures such as Wilfred McSherry, Trove Giske, Elizabeth Johnston Taylor, Fiona Timmins, Silvia Caldeira and Linda Ross as key researchers in the field. The United States and Iran have the most substantial connections of authors publishing on SI. This study reveals an increasing interest in SI and care within nursing research, confirming its growing significance in the field. By reporting areas where research on SI in nursing remains underdeveloped, the study paves the way for the development of new or updated curricula in nursing programs. The study can guide faculty development initiatives by highlighting the importance of SI and providing resources for educators to incorporate these concepts into their teaching. This study presents specific research questions to address these knowledge gaps. Future studies which can address these questions will enrich nursing education and practice, leading to improved patient outcomes and enhanced nurse well-being using the full potential of SI in nursing practice.

Palliative care and spiritual care competency measurement among Turkish Nurses: A scale adaptation study

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to conduct a Turkish validity and reliability study of the Palliative Care Spiritual Care Competency Scale.

METHODS

The sample of the study consisted of 354 nurses. In the first stage, the forward-backward translation method was used to develop the Turkish version of the Palliative Care Spiritual Care Competency Scale. The comprehensibility, purposefulness, cultural appropriateness, and discrimination of the scale items were evaluated with content validity. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was applied to examine the construct validity of the scale. To evaluate the ability of the scale to give consistent results at different time intervals, the relationship between the scores obtained from the first and second applications was examined with the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). The reliability of the scale was evaluated with the Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient and item-total score correlation coefficients.

RESULTS

The content validity index of the Palliative Care Spiritual Care Competency Scale was found to be 0.98 after expert opinion was obtained. The goodness-of-fit values of the scale were χ2/sd: 3.125; GFI: 0.915; AGFI: 0.875; IFI: 0.926; TLI: 0.905; CFI: 0.925; RMSEA: 0.078; SRMR: 0.054. As a result of CFA, some items were removed from the scale, and a Turkish version of the scale consisting of 14 items and three sub-dimensions was developed. The reliability of the scale over time was evaluated with the test-retest method, and it was found that the inter-response agreement was very good (ICC: 0.981; p < 0.001). The Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient of the scale was 0.89 and the Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient of the subscales ranged between 0.78 and 0.85.

SIGNIFICANCE OF RESULTS

It was determined that the Turkish version of the Palliative Care Spiritual Care Competency Scale is a short, easy-to-understand, and psychometrically sound measurement tool that can be safely applied to Turkish nurses.

Psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Perinatal Bereavement Care Confidence Scale (C-PBCCS) in nursing practice

BACKGROUND

The Perinatal Bereavement Care Confidence Scale (PBCCS) was designed to evaluate midwives' and nurses' confidence and its psychosocial factors to provide bereavement care in Ireland. However, it is unknown whether this scale is valid and reliable for use with midwives and nurses in China. The aim of this study was to translate the English version into Chinese (C-PBCCS) and determine its validity and reliability in a population of Chinese midwives and nurses.

METHODS

In this cross-sectional observational study, after translating the English version of the PBCCS into Chinese and ensuring the linguistic adequacy and clarity of the language, we evaluated the validity and reliability of the C-PBCCS with Chinese midwives and nurses (n = 608). Participants were recruited using convenience sampling from 10 maternity hospitals in Zhejiang and Jiangsu Provinces. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted to determine the construct validity (n = 304). Another sample of 304 midwives and nurses was used for confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to verify the quality of the factor structures. Cronbach's alpha coefficient and Guttman split-half coefficient were adopted for the evaluation of internal consistency. The STROBE was followed in reporting the results.

RESULTS

The 43-item PBCCS was reduced to 40 items. Bereavement support knowledge (13 items, three factors), Bereavement support skills (eight items, two factors), Self-awareness (eight items, two factors), and Organizational support (11 items, two factors). The CFA suggested that the four scales in the C-PBCCS had acceptable fit indices. The Cronbach's alpha ranged from 0.835-0.901. The Guttman split-half coefficient was between 0.868-0.933.

CONCLUSION

The C-PBCCS was found to be a psychometrically sound measurement tool to evaluate Chinese-speaking midwives' and nurses' confidence and the psychosocial factors that affect their confidence in providing perinatal bereavement care.

Validity and reliability of the Persian version of the nurse spiritual care therapeutics scale (NSCTS)

Background

Dealing with the spiritual needs of patients has been recognized as one of the principles of holistic care in nursing. Therefore, it is necessary for nurses to deal with the spiritual issues of patients. Also, a valid and reliable scale is needed to measure nurse-provided spiritual care. So the purpose of this study was to determine the validity and reliability of the Persian version of the “Nurse Spiritual Care Therapeutics Scale” in Iranian nurses.

Method

In a methodological study, English version of the Nurse Spiritual Care Therapeutics Scale was translated into Persian by forward–backward translation procedure. Face validity was assessed by cognitive interview, and content validity was assessed by a panel of experts. In addition, construct validity was assessed by exploratory factor analysis. The participants were 188 nurses working in different adult wards. Reliability was measured using the Cronbach’s alpha and stability reliability was assessed using the internal correlation coefficient (ICC).

Results

In assessing the construct validity, two factors with eigenvalues greater than 1 were identified, which explained 58.47% of the total variance. Cronbach’s alpha value was 0.932, and ICC was 0.892.

Conclusion

As a result, the Persian version of the Nurse Spiritual Care Therapeutics Scale shows a good validity and reliability. Therefore, this scale can be used to evaluate spiritual care at the bedside in Iran.

Association between psychological capital and spiritual care competencies of clinical nurses: A multicentre cross-sectional study

AIMS

To investigate the status of spiritual care competencies among clinical nurses and their relationships with psychological capital.

BACKGROUND

Limited knowledge is about the influence of positive personal characteristics on nurses' spiritual care competencies.

METHODS

A multicentre cross-sectional study. A total of 1717 nurses were recruited from nine separate Chinese hospitals. Online questionnaires were delivered through a local nursing association to assess socio-demographics, spiritual care competencies and psychological capital of nurses.

RESULTS

Nurses had mild-to-moderate levels of spiritual care competencies and moderate levels of psychological capital. Psychological capital and its two metrics (self-efficacy and hope), spiritual care education, professional qualification and shift work were the main predictors of spiritual care competencies (each p < .05).

CONCLUSION

The findings of the study show a positive relationship between psychological capital and spiritual care competencies of clinical nurses. Strengthening nurses' psychological capital could improve their spiritual care competencies.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGERS

Nurse managers and hospital administrators should better understand the value of psychological capital for nurses' capacity development. Effective interventions need to be implemented separately or combined with spiritual care education programmes to improve nurses' psychological capital and spiritual care competencies.

A research agenda for ageing in China in the 21st century (2nd edition): Focusing on basic and translational research, long-term care, policy and social networks

One of the key issues facing public healthcare is the global trend of an increasingly ageing society which continues to present policy makers and caregivers with formidable healthcare and socio-economic challenges. Ageing is the primary contributor to a broad spectrum of chronic disorders all associated with a lower quality of life in the elderly. In 2019, the Chinese population constituted 18 % of the world population, with 164.5 million Chinese citizens aged 65 and above (65+), and 26 million aged 80 or above (80+). China has become an ageing society, and as it continues to age it will continue to exacerbate the burden borne by current family and public healthcare systems. Major healthcare challenges involved with caring for the elderly in China include the management of chronic non-communicable diseases (CNCDs), physical frailty, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, with emerging challenges such as providing sufficient dental care, combating the rising prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases among nursing home communities, providing support for increased incidences of immune diseases, and the growing necessity to provide palliative care for the elderly. At the governmental level, it is necessary to make long-term strategic plans to respond to the pressures of an ageing society, especially to establish a nationwide, affordable, annual health check system to facilitate early diagnosis and provide access to affordable treatments. China has begun work on several activities to address these issues including the recent completion of the of the Ten-year Health-Care Reform project, the implementation of the Healthy China 2030 Action Plan, and the opening of the National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders. There are also societal challenges, namely the shift from an extended family system in which the younger provide home care for their elderly family members, to the current trend in which young people are increasingly migrating towards major cities for work, increasing reliance on nursing homes to compensate, especially following the outcomes of the 'one child policy' and the 'empty-nest elderly' phenomenon. At the individual level, it is important to provide avenues for people to seek and improve their own knowledge of health and disease, to encourage them to seek medical check-ups to prevent/manage illness, and to find ways to promote modifiable health-related behaviors (social activity, exercise, healthy diets, reasonable diet supplements) to enable healthier, happier, longer, and more productive lives in the elderly. Finally, at the technological or treatment level, there is a focus on modern technologies to counteract the negative effects of ageing. Researchers are striving to produce drugs that can mimic the effects of 'exercising more, eating less', while other anti-ageing molecules from molecular gerontologists could help to improve 'healthspan' in the elderly. Machine learning, 'Big Data', and other novel technologies can also be used to monitor disease patterns at the population level and may be used to inform policy design in the future. Collectively, synergies across disciplines on policies, geriatric care, drug development, personal awareness, the use of big data, machine learning and personalized medicine will transform China into a country that enables the most for its elderly, maximizing and celebrating their longevity in the coming decades. This is the 2nd edition of the review paper (Fang EF et al., Ageing Re. Rev. 2015).

Effectiveness of spiritual care training to enhance spiritual health and spiritual care competency among oncology nurses

Background

Although spiritual care is a basic element of holistic nursing, nurses’ spiritual care knowledge and abilities are often unable to satisfy patients’ spiritual care needs. Therefore, nurses are in urgent need of relevant training to enhance their abilities to provide patients with spiritual care.

Design

A nonrandomized controlled trial.

Objective

To establish a spiritual care training protocol and verify its effectiveness.

Methods

This study recruited 92 nurses at a cancer treatment hospital in a single province via voluntary sign-up. The nurses were divided into two groups—the study group (45 people) and the control (wait-listed) group (47 people)—using a coin-toss method. The study group received one spiritual care group training session every six months based on their routine nursing education; this training chiefly consisted of lectures by experts, group interventions, clinical practice, and case sharing. The control group participated in monthly nursing education sessions organized by the hospital for 12 continuous months.

Results

After 12 months of intervention, the nurses in the study group had significantly higher overall spiritual health and spiritual care competency scores as well as significantly higher scores on all individual dimensions compared with those in the control group (P < 0.01).

Conclusions

A spiritual care training protocol for nurses based on the concept of mutual growth with patients enhances nurses’ spiritual well-being and spiritual care competencies.

Psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the spiritual care competency scale in nursing practice: a methodological study

OBJECTIVES

To determine the validity and reliability of the Spiritual Care Competency Scale (SCCS) among nurses in China.

DESIGN

Methodological research.

METHODS

After the SCCS was translated into Chinese, the validity and reliability of the Chinese version of the SCCS (C-SCCS) were evaluated using a convenience sample of 800 nurses recruited from different healthcare centres. The construct validity of the C-SCCS was determined by an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with promax rotation. Pearson's correlation coefficients of the C-SCCS and the Palliative Care Spiritual Care Competency Scale (PCSCCS-M) were computed to assess the concurrent validity and construct validity of the C-SCCS. To verify the quality of the component structure, we conducted a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). We tested the internal consistency and stability of the measure using Cronbach's alpha coefficient and the Guttman split-half coefficient, respectively, and a factorial analysis was performed.

RESULTS

A total of 709 participants completed the questionnaire (response rate: 88.63%), and all completed questionnaires were suitable for analysis. Three factors were abstracted from the EFA and explained 58.19% of the total variance. The Cronbach's alpha coefficients of the three subscales were .93, .92, and .89, and the Guttman split-half coefficient for the C-SCCS was .84. The CFA indicated a well-fitting model, and the significant correlations between the C-SCCS and the PCSCCS-M (r=0.67, p<0.01) showed adequate concurrent validity. Nurses' education and income level showed a significant association with the C-SCCS score.

CONCLUSION

The C-SCCS was shown to be a psychometrically sound instrument for evaluating Chinese nurses' spiritual care competencies.

Spiritual care in nursing: an overview of the measures used to assess spiritual care provision and related factors amongst nurses

Background and aim of the work:

Spiritual wellbeing has important implications for an individual’s health and wellbeing. Whilst the provision of spiritual care and assessment of spiritual needs is a vital part of the nurse’s role, literature suggests that nurses do not always engage in spiritual care with their patients or assess their spiritual needs. This review aims to ascertain wider reasons for this inconsistent spiritual care delivery by nurses to their patients.

Methods:

A review of the literature was conducted to identify instruments available relating to nursing professionals spiritual care and assessment.

Results:

14 measures relating to spiritual care and assessment were identified covering the key domains of: ‘Beliefs and values and attitudes around spiritual care,’ ‘Frequency of provision or extent to which they provide spiritual care or willingness,’ ‘Respondents’ level of knowledge around spirituality and spiritual care,’ ‘Ability to respond to spiritual pain,’ and ‘Multiple Domains: beliefs and attitudes around spirituality and spiritual care, amount of preparation, training and knowledge, spiritual care practices, perceived ability and comfort with provision and perceived barriers to provision.’

Conclusions:

A lack of standardisation in the conceptualisation and assessment of spiritual care causes challenges in reviewing, however several themes do emerge. In general student and qualified nurses are aware of the importance of providing spiritual care and are hindered by a lack of education about how best to implement such care. The religiosity of individual nurses or their training institutions seems to be of less importance than training in spiritual care interventions. (www.actabiomedica.it)