Effect of an educational program based on spiritual care on the sense of coherence in Iranian nursing students: A randomized controlled trial

Nursing students face stress during their studies, especially in clinical training, which can reduce their sense of coherence. To enhance this, various educational methods, including spiritual care, can be used. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the effect of an educational program based on spiritual care on the sense of coherence in Iranian nursing students. This randomized controlled trial was conducted in 2024 at the Islamic Azad University, Darab Branch, Iran. The participants included 70 undergraduate nursing students selected through convenience sampling and randomly assigned into intervention and control groups using block randomization. Data on the sense of coherence were collected via a questionnaire before and after the intervention. The intervention was carried out over six weeks. Data analysis was performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26, with chi-square, independent t-test, and paired t-test. Seventy undergraduate nursing students participated in the study. The mean age of participants was 21.57 (standard deviation [SD]=1.74) years, with an age range of 19 to 29 years. The results showed a statistically significant difference in the intervention group before and after the intervention (P<0.001), while in the control group, no significant difference was observed (P>0.05). After the intervention, a statistically significant difference was found in the overall sense of coherence between the intervention and control groups, with mean scores of 58.51 (SD=11.37) and 49.77 (SD=3.22), respectively (P<0.001). Spiritual care education led to an improvement in the sense of coherence among nursing students.