Spiritual Health Status Research Articles

Spiritual Health Status and Related Factors Among Medical Students in Kermanshah

Background: Spirituality constitutes an integral aspect of health, encompassing religiosity and spirituality, and is deemed essential alongside physical, mental, and social well-being, contributing to individual and societal health development. Objectives: This study aims to assess the level of spiritual health and its associated factors among medical students at Kermanshah Medical School. Methods: This research employed a cross-sectional descriptive design. The study population comprised 258 medical students in Kermanshah, selected through random and available sampling methods. Data were collected using a standardized questionnaire for evaluating spiritual health in Iranian society, developed by the Academy of Medical Sciences. The questionnaire consists of 48 items, measuring behavioral, attitudinal, and perceptual dimensions. Its reliability and validity have been established by Amiri et al. using Cronbach's alpha method. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS-23 software. Results: The mean age of participants was 21.59 years, with 50.4% females and 94.6% single individuals. A majority (59.3%) were enrolled in basic science, and 73.4% lived with their parents. The average spiritual health score among students was 205.03. Female and single students scored higher than male and married counterparts, respectively. Additionally, students residing in dormitories or private homes scored higher than those living with their parents. There was a significant difference between genders and academic disciplines, particularly in the dimensions of attitude and overall spiritual health. Moreover, students' living arrangements significantly influenced their scores in terms of attitude and overall spiritual health. Conclusions: The overall spiritual health score among medical students was relatively low, with higher scores observed in the areas of attitude and perception compared to behavioral aspects.

The Spiritual Health Status of Iranian Older Adults: A Population-based Telephone Survey

The Spiritual Health Status of Iranian Older Adults: A Population-based Telephone Survey

Spiritual health assessment among MBBS students of Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Burla, Sambalpur, Odisha, India

Background: Spiritual health is a state which not only increases the meaning of life but also increases mental satisfaction and gist in life. It improves the verbal communication between physician and patients, which reflects future patient care by strengthening their relationship. Aims and Objectives: (1) The present study was planned to assess the spiritual health status of undergraduate medical students of Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Burla, by use of the Spiritual Health Assessment Scale (SHAS) and coping orientation for problem experiences (COPE) score and (2) to find the association between sociodemographic variables and spiritual health status of the students. Materials and Methods: For this study, 750 undergraduate students of either sex were recruited between August 2023 and November 2023. The data were collected through “sociodemographic characteristic questionnaire’s,” “SHAS,” and “cope score.” Results: In our study, most of the students were female, i.e., 56.94%. Majority of students were having mean SHA score (96.83 ± 4.72). Regarding copping score, we found that 287 students have scored high score between 42 and 46 (38.26%). A significant association was found between SHAS and type of family (P = 0.001), ritual gathering (P = 0.000), father’s education level (P = 0.009), and mother’s education level (P = 0.003) at P < 0.05. Conclusion: This study concludes that the spiritual health is directly and indirectly associated with lifestyle modification of the MBBS students which help very easily to overcome from stress and anxiety.

本科护生灵性健康现状调查及影响因素分析

本科护生灵性健康现状调查及影响因素分析

Spiritual Health Status and Spiritual Care Behavior of Nursing Staffs in Medical Wards

<p>背景：過去研究顯示較少與內科病房護理人員靈性健康，與提供病人靈性照顧行為之相關研究，故值得探討此方面的研究。</p> <p>目的：探討內科病房護理人員的靈性健康、靈性照顧行為及其相關因素。</p> <p>方法：本研究採調查研究法，以方便取樣方式，調查台灣中部某區域教學醫院的內 科病房護理人員140 人，研究工具包括「護理人員靈性健康量表」和「靈性照顧行為量表」等結構式問卷，資料以SPSS Windows version 20.0 版進行描述性與推論性統計分析。</p> <p>結果：首先，內科病房護理人員靈性健康狀態受年齡、性別、宗教信仰、教育程 度、工作年資、目前擔任職務、婚姻、自覺身體健康狀態、是否受過靈性教育等變項影響；而靈性照護行為則受年齡、宗教信仰、目前擔任職務等變項 影響。其次，內科病房護理人員靈性健康與靈性照護行為呈顯著正相關，靈性健康得分越高，靈性照護行為分數得分越高。再者，內科病房護理人員靈 性健康狀態可顯著預測靈性照護行為。</p> <p>結論/ 實務運用：研究者建議護理教育、臨床護理及護理行政增加靈性關懷及靈性照護行為的策略，使臨床醫護人員其靈性健康狀態及靈性照護行為可以被提 升，以達全人照護中靈性照護的品質。</p> <p> </p><p>Background: Past studies have seldom discussed the spiritual health of nurses and their spiritual care behaviors in medical wards; therefore, it is worthwhile to study such areas.</p> <p>Purpose: T o investigate spiritual health and spiritual care behavior factors related nursing staffs in medical wards.</p> <p>Methods: T his study used a survey with convenience sampling to investigate 140 nursing staffs in the medical wards of a regional teaching hospital at in central Taiwan. The research tools included the Nursing Staff Spiritual Health Scale and the Spiritual Care Behavior Scale as the structure questionnaire. Data analysis was conducted of the descriptive and inference statistics by SPSS Windows version 20.0.</p> <p>Results: I nitially, the spiritual health status of nursing staffs in the medical wards was influenced by age, gender, religious belief, education level, working years, current position, marriage, conscious physical health status, and whether or not they had received spiritual education; while the spiritual care behavior was influenced by age, religious beliefs, current positions, etc. Additionally, the spiritual health status and spiritual care behavior of nursing staffs in the medical wards were significantly positively correlated with each other. The higher the spiritual health scores, the higher the scores of the spiritual care behavior. Furthermore, the spiritual health status of nursing staffs in the medical wards can significantly predict their spiritual care behaviors.</p> <p>Conclusion/Clinical Implication: This study suggests adding strategies of spiritual care and spiritual care behavior for nursing education, clinical nursing, and nursing administration. In doing so, the spiritual health status and spiritual care behaviors of clinical healthcare professionals could be promoted, thus affecting the quality of spiritual care in holistic care settings.</p> <p> </p>

Spiritual distress of patients living with cancer in Northern Vietnam.

Literature on the spirituality of cancer patients has been mainly focused on the experiences of western patients. Few studies explore the experience of Asian cancer patients, while no spiritual study on cancer patients has been conducted in Vietnam. The purpose of this study was to survey the spiritual distress of cancer patients at two general hospitals in northern Vietnam. This was a quantitative survey with a cross-sectional design. This study used purposive sampling with a fitting the inclusion criteria, alongside the Spiritual Distress Scale-Vietnam version (SDS-V). The data was collected by an investigator in two general hospitals in northern Vietnam. The study received approval from two research councils. The results demonstrated that the demographics of cancer patients in the study reflected the national data of Vietnam. Regarding the four exploratory dimensions, more than 50% of cancer patients expressed feeling hardship and sorrow, most did not feel loneliness, most patients reported a good relationship with others and God, while the majority of were afraid to discuss death. Due to impact of aging and poverty on the sample patients, further studies into the interconnectivity between economics and the spiritual health status of patients is recommended. Additionally, since the 132 Vietnamese cancer patients reported a positive relationship with others and God, healthcare professionals should study effective strategies to apply the above strengths in easing hardships for future cancer patients.

The Status of Spiritual Health in 'Heavenly Gifts' Textbooks in the Elementary School

The Status of Spiritual Health in 'Heavenly Gifts' Textbooks in the Elementary School

Assessment of Mental and Spiritual Health Among Iranian Dental Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

Objective: To investigate the relationship between mental health and spiritual well-being among general and post-graduate dental students . Material and Methods: This is a cross-sectional, descriptive-analytical study conducted on 268 general and post-graduate dental students. Data collection tools included the Mental Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28: General Health Questionnaire) and the Spiritual Health Questionnaire. The data were analyzed by the SPSS version 25 using Independent Samples t-test, One-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficient, Multiple linear regression with a significant level at 0.05. Results: The total score of the Spiritual Health Questionnaire was 71.48 ± 0.507 and the Mental Health Questionnaire was 40.31±0.65. There was a significant difference in the spiritual health status between the general and post-graduate students (p=0.009). Overall, there was a significant positive relationship between the students' spiritual health and mental health (p=0.045), although a significant relationship was evident between mental health and age of the students (p=0.019) . Conclusion: The spiritual health was high in the dental students and Kerman University of medical sciences residents. Also, there was a positive significant relationship between spiritual and mental health.

Depression and suicidal ideation: association of physical, mental, social, and spiritual health status.

The aim of this study was to determine if multidimensional (physical, mental, social, spiritual) health status could predict the presence of depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation in the general population. We administered a population-based, cross-sectional survey to 1200 participants from the general Korean population. The survey included the 5 Health Status Questionnaire (5HSQ) for self-rated health status, Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) for depression, and a question from the PHQ-9 for suicidal ideation. Multiple logistic regression was performed to estimate the association of significant socio-demographic factors and self-rated health status with depression and suicidal ideation. Physical health status was associated with depression in both men and women (men: adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 4.69; 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.44-9.00; women: aOR, 2.05; 95% CI 1.13-3.72) while spiritual health status only affected men (aOR, 5.50; 95% CI 2.59-11.65) and mental health status only women (aOR, 3.92; 95% CI 2.03-7.54). Social health status was associated with suicidal ideation in men (aOR, 4.87; 95% CI 2.74-19.99) while mental health status was associated with suicidal ideation in women (aOR, 4.31; 95% CI 1.90-9.76). Physical, mental, social, and spiritual self-rated health statuses were all found to be associated with an individual's predisposition to depression and suicidal ideation with notable differences between men and women.

Spiritual Health Status and its Relationship with Demographic Characteristics of Students of Mashhad University of Medical Science

Spiritual Health Status and its Relationship with Demographic Characteristics of Students of Mashhad University of Medical Science

Spiritual health and its influencing factors in primary liver cancer patients

Objective To investigate the status of spiritual health in patients with primary liver cancer and explore its influencing factors, so as to provide basis for formulating intervention measures. Methods From October 2017 to June 2018, a total of 130 patients with primary liver cancer who underwent surgical treatment in a ClassⅢ Grade A hospital were selected by purposive sampling method. Surveys were conducted using a general condition questionnaire, the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT-Sp) , and a Social Support Rating Scale. The influencing factors of spiritual health were analyzed by single factor analysis and Logistic regression analysis. Results A total of 119 valid questionnaires were collected. There were 67 cases with low FACIT-Sp score, accounting for 56.3%; 32 cases with intermediate grade, accounting for 26.9%; 20 cases with high grade, accounting for 16.8% among the 119 patients. Age, religious beliefs, family monthly income, whether or not receiving radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and social support were the factors affecting patients' spiritual health (P<0.05) . Conclusions The spiritual health of patients with primary liver cancer is mostly at the low-to-medium level. Nursing staff are suggested to provide tailored nursing interventions based on their influencing factors to improve their spiritual health. Key words: Liver neoplasms; Social support; Spiritual health; Influencing factors

Research on the status and influencing factors of spiritual health in patients with gastrointestinal malignant tumors

Objective To investigate the status and its influencing factors of spiritual health of patients with gastrointestinal malignant tumors. Methods Totally 147 advanced cancer patients from three tertiary hospitals in Tianjin (Tianjin Hospital of ITCWM Nankai Hospital, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Therapy, The Second Hospital of Tianjin Medical University) were enrolled through convenience sampling methods. The status of spiritual health and quality of life were analyzed by the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual Well Being Scale (FACIT-Sp-12) and the World Health Organization's Quality of Life Questionnaire-Brief Version Scale(WHOQOL-BREF). Results The overall scores of the FACIT-Sp-12 were (25.64 ± 2.84) points, at a lower-middle level,the overall scores of the WHOQOL-BREF were (11.24±2.85) points,at a lower level. Multiple linear-regression analysis showed that the age,religious belief and educational level were influencing factors of spiritual health(P<0.05). Conclusions The level of spiritual health of advanced cancer patients is at lower-middle level. With different age,religious belief, educational level the status of spiritual health is different. Nurses should carry out targeted nursing intervention according to individual conditions of patients with gastrointestinal malignant tumors to improve their quality of life. Key words: Quality of life; Gastrointestinal malignant tumors patients; Spritual health; Influencing factors

The Spiritual Health Status and Spiritual Care Behaviors of Nurses in Intensive Care Units and Related Factors

Patients suffer sudden and life-threatening conditions in intensive care units (ICU), which frequently result in traumatic changes in physical, mental, and spiritual health. Little research has been conducted on the spiritual health and spiritual care behaviors of nurses in ICU. To explore the relationship among demographic characteristics, spiritual health, and spiritual care behaviors in ICU nurses. A descriptive correlational research was used and 219 nurses from three teaching hospitals were enrolled as study participants. A structured questionnaire consisting of a demographic datasheet, a spiritual health scale, and a spiritual care behavior scale was used for data collection. SPSS for Windows version 22.0 was used for statistical analysis. The participants received few hours of spiritual-care education. The highest scored item for spiritual health was "connecting with people". The highest scored item for spiritual care behavior was "helping the patient out of adversity". Participants who were older in age and who had more years of clinical experience exhibited spiritual care behaviors such as "helping the patient out of adversity" and "retaining hope" more frequently with their ICU patients. The older and more clinically experienced nurses in this study performed spiritual care behaviors at a higher frequency than their younger, less experienced counterparts. Therefore, it is recommended that hospitals retain more-experienced nursing staff to elevate the level of holistic health care. Concurrently, training in spiritual care skills should be provided to younger and less experienced nurses in order to facilitate more spiritual care behaviors. The results of this study provide a reference for providing spiritual care behaviors to patients.

Healthy nurses for a quality health care service: A literature review

Healthy nurses are a key component when providing quality health care. This paper aims to review the factors that may relate to the physical and spiritual health status of nurses, and the extent to which health affects the work productivity of nurses which ultimately, has an impact on the quality of health services. We conducted a literature search via an online database and found 92 articles with keywords related to this topic. After the inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied,15 articles were included in the analysis. Implementing a health promotion model is beneficial to encourage nurses practicing a healthy lifestyle behaviour and improve their health status. This includes creating a healthy work environment, physical activity, having regular meals as part of a balanced nutritional diet, having sufficient rest, and practising stress management.

Attitudes of the General Population, Cancer Patients, their Family Caregivers, and Physicians toward Dying and Death: A Nationwide Survey

Little is known about people’s attitudes toward death. We aimed to examine attitudes toward death and to investigate their associations with health status in various participant groups. We administered nationwide questionnaires to a total of 4,107 individuals including general Korean population, cancer patients, family caregivers, and physicians. Association of attitudes toward five aspects of dying and death—the ending of life, fearing death because it is painful, anticipating an afterlife, preparing to practice charity and being remembered—and physical, mental, social, and spiritual health status were also analyzed. Attitudes differed. Most (63.4%-76.2%) accepted that death is the ending of life, 45.6%-58.8% feared a painful death, 47.6%-55.0% anticipated an afterlife, 88.5%-93.0% expected to forgive, and 89.9%-94.1% expected to be remembered after death. The general population, cancer patients, and family caregivers had similar attitudes but had more positive attitudes than physicians on the ending of life, fearing a painful death, and anticipating an afterlife. Accepting death as the ending of life and fear of death pain were inversely associated with mental, social, spiritual, or general health status, but participants anticipating an afterlife, expecting to forgive, or expecting to be remembered showed better social, spiritual, or general health status. This nationwide study of various participant groups shows that attitudes toward dying and death were associated with mental, social, spiritual, or general health, but not physical health status. These data suggest that sensitive and skillful discussions of death and dying might contribute to peaceful end of life.

An Insight into Spiritual Health and Coping Tactics among Dental Students; A Gain or Blight: A Cross-sectional Study.

Spiritual health is the youngest dimension of health which affects the coping skills of the individual and may help the dental students who are the caregivers of the future, to overcome crisis situation with time. To measure the association between spiritual health and coping skills among the dental students of private dental college. A questionnaire based cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the spiritual health status using Spiritual Health Assessment Scale (SHAS) and coping skills using Adolescent Coping Orientation for Problem Experiences (ACOPE) scale among the 389 dental students of different academic years in a private dental college. The data obtained was subjected to descriptive statistics and means were compared using independent t-test and one-way ANOVA. The mean age of the study participants was 22.8±3.17 years. Majority of the students had fair spiritual health score (74.55%). Of the coping strategies dimension, highest mean score was observed in seeking diversions (3.60±1.40) and the least mean score was observed in engaging in demanding activities (2.67±1.41). Statistically significant association was seen between dimension of coping behaviour and spiritual health (p≤ 0.05). The present study highlights that spiritual health plays a central role and influences the coping strategies in human health. The spiritual health can continuously compensate with other health like mental, physical and social well-being.

Association of between mental health and spiritual health among students in Shiraz University

AbstractBackground and aim: Spiritual health is one of the most important social – cultural factors that may predict mental health. The main purpose of this study was to assess association between mental health and spiritual health among students in Shiraz University.Materials and Method: A descriptive-correlational design was used for the study.The study was conducted in 2012. A total number of 474 students (237 female and 237 male) were recruited in this study using a cluster sampling method. Data were collected using Goldberg’s Mental Health Questionnaire and Pulutzyn and Ellison spiritual health questionnaires. Data were analyzed by SPSS16 software and two categories of descriptive and inferential statistical methods correlation and regression and t- tests.Findings: The results of the study indicated that there is a significant relationship between mental health and spiritual health scores in both sexes (P<001). Variable of spiritual health, can predict 70 percent mental health in female and male. T-test results showed that there is a difference between the means of spiritual health in boys and girls (p< 0/05).Discussion & Conclusion: Changings in the educational system and paying attention to mental health and spiritual health to meet the needs of students may be necessary. There is a need for further applied research for testing interventions to promote mental health and spiritual health students.Key Words: Mental health, spiritual health, Students REFERENCES Alahbakhshian M Jafarpour - Alavi M, Parvizi S Haghani H (2010). A survey on relationship between spiritual wellbeing and quality of life in multiple sclerosis patients. Zahedan Journal of Research in Medical Science. 12(29-33). Bahrami E Hosseini Vajari K (2003)[ The Relationship Between Religious Coping and Spiritual Happiness with Mental Health in Women]. Master’s thesis,Theran university. (Persian). Boivin M J Kirby A L Underwood L K Silva H (1999). Spiritual Well- being Scale. Measures of Religiosity. Birmingham. Religious Education Press. Corrigan P Mccorkle B Schell B (2003). Religion and spirituality in the lives of people with serious mental illness. Commmmunity Mental Health Journal. 39(6) 487-499. Craven R Hirnle C. (2003). Fundamental of Nnursing:Human Health and Function. Philadelphia, Lippincott & Williams & Wilkins Company. Esmaeil Riahi M Aliverdi -Nia A Bani Asadi M R. (2009) The impact of religiosity and religious orientation on the mental health of the students of University of Mazandaran. Journal of Social Science. 5(2) 51-90. Fernsler J I Klemm P Miller M A (1999). Spiritual well-being and demands of illness in people with colorectal cancer. Cancer Nursing. 22(2) 134-140. Ghamari-Givi H (2008 (Spirituality, identity and mental health in life span. Journal of Psychology and Religion, 1(4) 43.71(Persian). Moreira-Almeida (2006). Religiousness and Mental Health: a review, Center for the Study of Religious and Spiritual Problems (NEPER), Sao Paulo (SP), Department of Psychiatry,Universidade de Sao Paulo (USP). Mueller P S Plevak D J RummansT A (2001). Religious involvement, spirituality, and medicine: Implication for clinical practice. Mayo Clinic Proceeding, 76, 1225-1235. 1393 راهب ،84 هرامش ،24 هرود / 58 ناراکمه و ییافو اضر رتکد Narimani M Aghamohammadian H Rajabi S (2007)[ A comparison between the mental health of mothers of exceptional children and mothers of normal children]. Journal of Fundamentals of Mental Health. 9(33&34) 15-24.(Persian). Nelson C J Rosenfeld B Breitbart W Galietta M (2002). Spiritual, religion, and depression in the terminally ill. Psychosomatics. 43(3) 213-220. Omidvari S (2008). Spiritual health; concepts and challenges. Quranic Interdisciplinary Studies Journal of Iranian Students Quranic Organization. 1(1) 6-17. Palahang H (1996) Epidemiological Assessment of Mental Disorders in Kashan. Master’s thesis. Iran’s Institute of Psychiatry.(Persian). Rahimian-Boogar A Asghar Nejad A (2008). [The Relationship between psychological hardiness and ego-resiliency with mental health in adolescent and adult survivors of Bam earthquake. Iranian Journal of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology.14(1) 62-70. Rajaei A. R. (2008). Religious Cognitive-Emotional Therapy(RCET). The 5th congress for psychotherapy. Beijingm China. SAED, A. & ROOSHAN, R. (2008). Spirituality and mental health. Journal of Psychology and Religion,2, 76-84. Salimi H Azad Marz-Abadi E Abedi Darza M (2010)[ Determining the mental health condition and its correlation with job burnout and life satisfaction in a military university personnel]. Journal of IRIAF Health Administration, 13(3) 10-17(Persian). Sanagoo A AliGhoodneh Z Asadi H (2008)[ The relationship between spiritual health and loneliness between the Persian and Turkmen youth]. Research Center of Gorgan University of Medical Sciences.(Persian). Shojaian R Zamani Monfared A (2002). The relation between use of prayers, mental health, and Job performance among technical workers of Tehran ammunition industries. Journal of Thought and Behavior. 8(30) 33-39.(Persian). Unterrainer K H Ladenhauf M L MoazediS et al (2010). Dimensions of religious/spiritual well- being and their relation to personality and psychological well-being. Personality and Individual Difference. 49(3) 192-197. Ya-Chu H Hui-Ying C Li-Yu C (2010). An exploration of the status of spiritual health among nursing students in Taiwan. Nurse Education Today. 30(5) 385-392

A comparison of spiritual health of male and female students in the Ilam University of Medical Sciences

There is a strong relationship between spiritual development of nursing students and their ability to provide patients with spiritual care. Therefore, present research aims to explore spiritual health in nursing students of theIlam University of Medical Sciences, in Iran for both boys and girls. Spiritual health of students is determined using the Palutzian andElisonquestionnaire which consisted of three parts. 10 questions were related to demographic date of students and 20 questions were examined religious health and existential health of students. Eventually, spiritual health of nursing students is classified into four groups and first group who received the grade of 20-40 has poor state of spiritual health. The groups that obtained total grades of 41-70, 71-99 and 100-120 are assigned as low-moderate, high-moderate and high status of spiritual health, respectively. Data analysis is conducted using ANOVA, Two-way analysis, and Factor analysis. The sample included 39% girls and 61% boys. Poor status of spiritual health between participants was not observed and correlation coefficient between scales of spiritual health is found to be 84.3% which represents as the score of religious health increases existential health score enhances. In order to promote spiritual health of nursing students, it is recommended that the course of spiritual health shouldbe added as a part of the curriculum for medical students due to this fact that capability of student nurses for providing spiritual care is related to their spirituality and their education in spiritual care.

Spiritual health of students in government medical colleges of Kolkata and their coping skills in a crisis situation.

The status of spiritual health of the population of India at large including that of young medical undergraduates who are the caregivers of the future and its association, if any, with coping skills in crisis situations is yet to be explored. To measure the spiritual health status of the study population, describe the coping skills used by them in crisis situations, identify the sociodemographic factors associated with their spiritual health, and to determine the association of spiritual health status of the study population and their coping skills. An institution-based cross-sectional study was performed among the third semester medical students in government medical colleges of Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The study was conducted among 362 medical students by the survey questionnaire method. The Spiritual Health Scale 2011 (SHS 2011) and the Brief COPE Scale were used to measure the spiritual health and coping status, respectively. Of all the respondents, 75.7% had refined spiritual health. The mean spiritual health score of the female students was significantly higher than that of the males. Of all the students, 66.1% showed good coping scores. Of all the respondents, 86.2% and 24.5% had higher adaptive and maladaptive coping scores, respectively. Refined spiritual categories were seen more among those students whose fathers had higher education and whose families arranged rituals at their homes. The spiritual health, self-evolution, and self-actualization scores of the respondents were significantly related to the adaptive coping scores and the fathers' education. The coping skills and hence, the spiritual health of the medical students were greatly influenced by the education of the father and cultural factor(s) like arranging annual rituals at home.

An exploration of the status of spiritual health among nursing students in Taiwan

Few studies have investigated the spiritual health of nursing students. The purpose of this study was to examine spiritual health in a group of senior nursing students in Taiwan, and to explore the factors that influenced the spiritual health of the group. This was a cross-sectional study. A total of 1276 senior nursing students were selected using a probability-proportional-to-size (PPS) procedure, and were asked to complete a self-administrated questionnaire that included a spiritual health scale (SHS) and a demographic profile. All study participants were female with an average age of 20.1 years, and most reported a religious affiliation and participation in religious activities. Their spiritual health was moderate; and generally the study metric "connection to others" was the highest factor, and the metric "religion attachment" was the lowest. Certain demographic characteristics, including age, education level, aboriginal characteristic, level of religious devotion, and family atmosphere were predictors of spiritual health. Nursing educators should be aware of the impact of spiritual health on nursing students, and should consider developing spiritual and religious education programs to enhance students' spiritual health and to nurture their ability to supply spiritual nursing care for patients.