The Affecting Mechanism of Playfulness Climate on Nursing Students’ Spiritual Care Competence

Spiritual care competence directly affects the quality of care, and playfulness climate is associated with competence. Therefore, this study combined self-determination theory to obtain a sample of 5091 nursing students from 2 higher education institutions in Kunming City, Yunnan Province, China, from March to May 2024, using purposive sampling (92.52% validity rate). The relationship between the playfulness climate and nursing students’ spiritual care competence, as well as the facilitating roles of filial piety and awe emotion were investigated. The results confirm for the first time that playfulness climate is positively related to nursing students’ spiritual care competence, and filial piety and awe emotion have facilitating effects. This suggests that nursing students need not only fun environments but also respectful beliefs and awe-inspiring emotional experiences to facilitate their higher-order healthcare services adequately in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China.