Investigating Spiritual Care Competency of Nurses in the Covid-19 Intensive Care Unit Medical Training Centers of Arak 1400-1401

Background & Aim: Nurses are the largest group providing services to patients, including during the Covid-19 pandemic. With the aggravation of this disease and the need for more advanced care, these patients are admitted to the intensive care unit. Due to staying in quarantine, not visiting and being away from family, the need for spiritual care is strongly felt in these patients, who need the presence of qualified nurses to provide spiritual care. The aim of the present study was to determine the spiritual care competency of nurses caring for these patients. Methods & Materials: This study was a cross-sectional descriptive research. In this study, 142 nurses working in hospitals affiliated to Arak University of Medical Sciences in 1400-1401 participated in the method of whole number sampling. The data collection tool was a valid and reliable spiritual care competency tool. The data were analyzed using spss version 16 software. Result: The results of the present study showed that the average overall score of spiritual care competency was 100.71 ± 14.45, which was higher than the median score of the instrument (81). Other findings indicated that among the personal characteristics of nurses, the competence of spiritual care with marital status (p=0.04), willingness to work overtime (p=0.00), age (p=0.01), total Work experience (p=0.03) and work experience in the special department (p=0.02) had a statistically significant relationship, In such a way, higher spiritual care competency was reported in married nurses, demanding overtime, older age and more work experience. Conclusion: Considering that the overall average score of spiritual care competence is higher than the mean score of the instrument, the spiritual care competency of the nurses under the research was evaluated as favorable. The results of this study can be a basis for future studies in order to improve the quality of nursing care and the competence of nurses' spiritual care.