Professional Competence and Spiritual Care Provision Among Zambian Maternal Healthcare Providers: Through the Lens of Watson's Theory of Human Caring.

IF 2 Q2 NURSING

Journal of Holistic Nursing Pub Date : 2025-02-27 DOI:10.1177/08980101251321970

Atika Khalaf, Kalunga Cindy Nakazwe, Lena Halawi, Francis Sichimba

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Purpose: Spiritual care is a multifaceted and integral part of holistic health within the medical standard of care, and it is a crucial component of healthcare providers' (HCPs) job descriptions. This study aimed to investigate Zambian HCPs' professional competence and practice of spiritual care in maternal healthcare settings, with a comparative focus on nurses. Methods: A cross-sectional design was applied among 311 maternal HCPs using an online survey with two validated instruments: Professional Competence in Spiritual Care (PCSC) and the Nurse Spiritual Care Therapeutics Scale (NSCTS). Results: Most participants were females (63.0%) and nurses or midwives (25.1% each). The mean PCSC score was 135.4 (SD = 26.5), indicating excellent competence in spiritual care. The mean NSCTS score was 24.5 (SD = 14.2), indicating that HCPs seldom provide spiritual care. No significant differences were found in PCSC scores across different HCPs (p = 0.065). However, midwives and medical practitioners scored significantly higher on NSCTS compared to nurses (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Zambian HCPs demonstrate excellent competence in spiritual care but seldom provide it. Nurses appear to provide inadequate spiritual care compared to other HCPs. These findings highlight the need for further investigation to identify barriers preventing nurses from delivering comprehensive spiritual care.

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来源期刊

Journal of Holistic Nursing NURSING-

CiteScore

4.30

自引率

10.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： Manuscripts are solicited that deal with the processes of knowledge development and application including research, concept analysis and theory development, practical applications of research and theory, clinical case studies and analysis, practice applications in general, educational approaches and evaluation, and aesthetic expressions of holistic knowledge. While the journal seeks to support work grounded in evidence, the editorial philosophy suggests that there are many diverse sources of “evidence” beyond the realm of what is called “empirical” and that many methods are appropriate for discovering evidence and generating knowledge.