Spiritual perspectives of nursing students

Abstract

Holistic nursing care requires attention to spiritual aspects of a person. The purpose of this descriptive, non-experimental study was to describe spiritual perspectives of nursing students. Students' spiritual perspectives were measured and described using Reed's Spiritual Perspective Scale (SPS).The convenience sample consisted of 205 nursing students enrolled in a baccalaureate nursing program in the southeastern United States. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Findings suggest that nursing students in this sample perceived themselves as having a high level of spirituality as indicated by scores on the SPS (M = 5.04, SD = 0.9). Reliability of the SPS was estimated by determining Cronbach's alpha (0.94). Findings of this study contribute to the body of nursing knowledge concerning the spirituality of nursing students. Research into the spiritual domain is necessary to provide a scientific knowledge base for nursing.