PROCESS OF SPIRITUAL CARE LEARNING IN IRANIAN NURSING STUDENTS: A GROUNDED THEORY STUDY

Despite the claim that spiritual care is an integral part and core of holistic care, more than fifty percent of nurses have seldom done it and, they feel that, they need more spiritual care education and practice. Therefore this study was conducted to explore and explain theoretically nursing students' spiritual care learning process.
Materials & Methods: In this qualitative study 18 bachelor students, 4 teachers and 3 hospital supervisors were interviewed using deep and semi-structured interviews. Strauss and Corbin constant comparison was used for data analysis.
Result: Spiritual education, from the participant’s point of view, means the teaching and learning of how to provide comfort, security and connecting to Allah (religious decrees do) which can be achieved via positive motivation, efficient modeling and appropriate educational environment. Clinical and non-formal learning of spiritual care as the main theme comprised 5 sub-themes which include "affected by the master," "effectiveness of friends in clinic," "family influences" and "multimedia, internet, congress and exhibition influences»
Conclusion: This research helped to identify the factors that impact nursing students' spiritual care learning in Iran.