Healthcare worker’s attitude toward spirituality and spiritual care in the intensive care unit with COVID-19

ABSTRACT

Background and aim: Spirituality is an important dimension of nursing care and spiritual care is essential to ensure that educational goals are met in the nursing profession, to provide optimal care and to meet, maintain and upgrade the standards of professional competence. The attitude and awareness of the medical staff towards spiritual care and spirituality can play a central role in the implementation of this care. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the attitudes toward spirituality and spiritual care in the healthcare workers (HCWs) to patients with COVID-19 in the intensive care unit (ICU). Materials and Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, 298 HCWs were selected through sampling based on census. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire and a Spirituality and Spiritual Care Rating Scale (SSCRS). questionnaire for measuring the spirituality and spiritual care in among HCWs. Data were analyzed using SPSS 18 software and descriptive and inferential statistics. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The majority of subjects (80.87%) were female and (63.8%) married. The mean age was 35.32 ± 1.53 years who had 10.51 ± 4.41 years of experience. The SSCRS score was 1.3% in low and undesirable HCWs, 59.2% in highly desirable levels, and the SSCRS score was moderate in 39.62% of cases. The attitudes toward spirituality had a direct and significant relationship with attitudes toward spiritual care, so that as attitudes toward spirituality increased, so did attitudes toward spiritual care. Conclusions: The attitude towards spirituality and spiritual care among the HCWs was favorable. The attention to spiritual care education is recommended for adverse events.