Factors affecting nursing students' perceptions and competencies of providing mental health care

Purpose: This study was conducted to determine the factors affecting the spiritual caregiving perception and efficiency of nursing students. Materials and Methods: The study which was planned as a descriptive correlational study was carried out between 30/03/2023 and 22/04/2024. The study sample comprised 375 students receiving education at Ondokuz Mayıs University Faculty of Health Sciences Department of Nursing. The data were collected using an introductory information form for nursing students, Spiritual Caregiving Scale (SCS) and Spiritual Care Efficiency Scale (SCES). The data were analyzed using the IBM SPSS 25 package program. The Stepwise approach and Multiple Linear Regression analysis were used for modeling the relationship between the dependent and independent variables. Findings: The mean SCS Spiritual Care Perspective, General Features of Spiritual Care, Spiritual Care Definitions, Spiritual Care Applications and Attitudes toward Spiritual Care subscale scores were found to be 35.72±5.42, 48.43±6.55, 18.68±3.02, 24.28±3.43 and 11.32±1.82, respectively. The mean total scale score was found to be 138.43±17.49. The mean SCES Evaluation and Implementation of Spiritual Care, Professionalism and Patient Counseling in Spiritual Care, Patient's Attitude and Communication toward Spirituality subscale scores were found to be 21.43±3.62, 54.84±7.42 and 24.41±3.56, respectively. The mean total scale score was found to be 100.67±12.43. A statistically significant relationship was determined between the mean SCS and SCES scores in a positive direction (p<0.05). Conclusion: In this study, it was determined that the nursing students had higher levels of spiritual caregiving perception and nursing efficacy related to spiritual caregiving. It was determined that the factors affecting the spiritual caregiving perception and efficiency of the students varied according to some of their sociodemographic characteristics (p<0.05). Keywords: Nursing student, Spirituality, Spiritual care, Perception, Efficiency