Examination of Spiritual Care Needs of Oncology Patients and Spiritual Care Competencies of Oncology Nurses

Objective: The study aimed to investigate the spiritual needs of oncology patients and spiritual care competencies of oncology nurses caring for the oncology patients. Material and Method: The study has a descriptive and cross-sectional design. The study was carried out with oncology patients (n=324) and oncology nurses (n=17) who were caring for them in oncology unit of a hospital in the city of İzmir, Turkey. The study data were collected using the Spiritual Needs Scale for the patients and the Spiritual Care Competency Scale-T for the nurses. In statistical analysis, number, percentile, mean score, and standard deviation were used. In the calculations, the level of statistical significance was taken as p<0.05. Results: The mean age of the oncology patients was 57.60±11.41 years. More than half of the patients (61%) indicated at least rarely a need for spiritual care. The mean age of the oncology nurses was 37.11±1.13 years. The nurses’ item mean score on the Spiritual Care Competency Scale-T was 3.77±0.45. The nurses’ item mean scores on the SSCS-T subscales were 3.34±0.58, 3.44±0.66 and 4.52±0.60 for Assessment and Implementation of Spiritual Care, Professionalization and Patient Counselling in Spiritual Care, and Attitude toward the Patient’s Spirituality and Communication, respectively. Conclusion: More than half of the oncology patients need spiritual care. The spiritual care competencies of the oncology nurses providing care to those patients was at a moderate level.