INVESTIGATING THE PERFORMANCE OF EDUCATION ON NURSES' SPIRITUAL INTELLIGENCE

Applying spiritual intelligence in the workplace can lead to improved
communication skills and optimal clinical care. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of
spiritual intelligence training on patient communication skills in nurses working in Imam Khomeini
Hospital in Mahabad in 2019.
Materials & Methods: The present study is an experimental study with a control group of pre-test-posttest that was conducted in 2019. The statistical population of this study is all nurses working in Imam
Khomeini Hospital of Mahabad. At first, nurses were included in the study based on the inclusion criteria
and 70 of them were randomly selected from each ward. Then, the participants in the study were divided
into control and intervention groups based on random allocation. Demographic characteristics form and
King Spiritual Intelligence Questionnaire were used to collect information. For the intervention group,
7 sessions of spiritual intelligence training were held in a workshop for 2 months. Immediately two
weeks and one month after the intervention, both groups completed the questionnaire. No training was
given to the control group. Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 17 and descriptive and
inferential statistics.
Results: The results showed that the two groups were completely identical. Also, the results of
Bonferroni multiple test showed that the mean scores of intelligence before the intervention in the two
groups were not statistically significant (p = 0.162). The mean score of spiritual intelligence in the
intervention group before training was 54.19±48.57 and it increased significantly (14.12±61.80) two
weeks after training. Multiple Bonferroni comparisons showed that there was no statistically significant
difference in the mean scores of spiritual intelligence before and two weeks after training and in the
follow-up phase among the nurses in the control group (p = 1.000). However, in the intervention group,
the mean scores of spiritual intelligence before and two weeks after training and in the follow-up stage
were significantly different (p <0.001).
Conclusion: The findings of the study indicate the effect of education on nurses' spiritual intelligence.
Since spiritual intelligence can affect all areas of nurses' work, it is better to use the findings to improve
the quality of nursing care and increase patient satisfaction.