The Effect of Palliative Spiritual Care Education on Nursing Students' Perception of Spiritual Care and Attitudes towards Death in Turkey: A Quasi-Experimental Study.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess nursing students' perceptions of spiritual care, their attitudes toward death, and the impact of a palliative spiritual care course on these perceptions and attitudes. This study employed a quasi-experimental design with a pre-test/post-test structure and two groups. Data were collected through the Spirituality and Spiritual Care Rating Scale and Death Attitude Profile-Revised. The study group consisted of 106 students experimental (n = 53) and control group (n = 53), who took the public health nursing course in the 2021-2022 academic year. There was a significant difference between the mean scores on the Spirituality and Spiritual Care Rating Scale, as well as the Death Attitude Profile-Revised, between the control group students and the experimental group students. The importance of spirituality and spiritual care should be emphasized in course content and internships by integrating relevant topics into the nursing curriculum and creating more training opportunities to help nurses develop skills for caring for dying patients and their families in palliative care units.