THE IMPACT OF PRE-REGISTRATION NURSES’ SPIRITUALITY EDUCATION ON CLINICAL PRACTICE: A GROUNDED THEORY INVESTIGATION

The purpose of this Constructivist Grounded Theory investigation is to discover the impact that spirituality education delivered throughout the pre-registration nursing programme has on the clinical practice of the study participants. Although a number of previous studies have looked at pre-registration spirituality education, to date, the transferability and sustainability of such education in clinical practice is unknown, so this is the unique purpose of this investigation. Furthermore, a qualitative approach was used to gain insight from the subjective stance of participants into their on-going understanding and experience of spirituality and spiritual care.
The study involved thirteen adult branch participants who all happened to be female, and enrolled on a pre-registration nursing programme at the same university in the West Midlands, United Kingdom (UK). This investigation was in two phases. Phase 1 took place during the participants’ final year as student nurses, to enquire about their understanding of education about spirituality and spiritual care. Additionally, it was necessary to know about their practical application of such knowledge, and understanding in the clinical areas then, and Phase 2 six to eight months after qualification. So each individual in-depth interview was digitally recorded and transcribed before analysis in the cyclical tradition of grounded theory. From Phase 1 three main categories were developed: Perceptions of spirituality, accruing spirituality education, and opportunities to provide spiritual care. Finally the core category of ‘Enablement’ was constructed.
The above main categories were explored further in Phase 2 to confirm any changes and developments in participants’ perceptions, knowledge, understanding, skills, and practice concerning spirituality and spiritual care. The main categories developed during Phase 2 were: essence of spiritual care, knowledge and skills for spiritual care, and delivering spiritual care. The analysis in Phase 2 revealed the core category of ‘Efficacy’. Consequently, the core categories from both Phase 1 and Phase 2 were combined to construct the theory, ‘Continuing with Enablement for Efficacy’. This theory explains how the participants resolved their main concerns of: transient recognition of some aspects of spiritual care, dominance of physical care, low priority of spiritual care in most clinical areas, and insufficient knowledge about spirituality and spiritual care. So the findings from this investigation support growing concerns in the literature for more spirituality education in nurse programmes, to enable them to feel more prepared and competent to consistently address the spiritual needs of patients in all clinical areas.