Attitude of Nurses and Nursing Students to Spiritual Care in Iran: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Background and purpose: Attitude of nurses and nursing students toward spirituality and spiritual care is a major factor in meeting patients spiritual needs. This study aimed at investigating the attitude of nurses and nursing students toward spirituality and spiritual care in Iran using a meta-analysis. Materials and methods: National and international databases were searched using relevant keywords. Information about the articles, their methodology, and results were recorded. To examine the heterogeneity between studies Cochran test (Q) and I-squared were used. The mean score for the attitude of nursing students and nurses, and a randomized design with 95% confidence interval was calculated in forest plots. Results: In initial search, 1618 articles were found and eventually 12 were selected according to the study inclusion criteria. By combining the results across preliminary studies, the mean scores for nursing students attitudes were 56.51 (95% CI, 55.08-57.93) and 42.24 (95% CI, 33.07-51. 40) based on Spirituality and Spiritual Care Rating Scale and Spiritual Care Perspectives Scale, respectively. Also, the mean scores for the nurses attitudes based on Spiritual Care Perspectives Scale and Spirituality and Spiritual Care Rating Scale were 51.43 (95% CI, 39.47-63.48) and 57.61 (95% CI, 54.31-60.92). Conclusion: Current meta-analysis showed moderate attitude toward spirituality and spiritual care among nurses and nursing students. Therefore, spiritual care modules should be delivered to nursing students and knowledge-intensive workshops should be carried out among nurses.