Spiritual Health, Spiritual Care-Giving, and Self-Compassion among Nursing Students, and Predictors Affecting Self-Compassion
<b>Purpose:</b> This study aimed to examine the relationship between nursing students' spiritual health, perceptions of spiritual care-giving, and self-compassion, and to identify the key predictors of self-compassion. <b>Design:</b> A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted. <b>Methods:</b> The study included 410 nursing students enrolled at a state university in western Turkey. Data were collected using a sociodemographic characteristics form, the Spiritual Health Scale, the Spiritual Care-Giving Scale, and the Self-Compassion Scale. Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and multiple regression to identify predictors of self-compassion. <b>Findings:</b> Among the participants, 57.1% were aged 21-23, and 75.9% were female. The mean scores were 93.18 ± 13.49 for spiritual health, 140.25 ± 19.54 for spiritual care-giving, and 3.18 ± 0.55 for self-compassion. Positive and significant correlations were observed between self-compassion and both spiritual health and spiritual care-giving (<i>p</i> < .001). Multiple regression analysis identified spiritual health, spiritual care-giving, gender, academic achievement, psychological support, and participation in religious or faith-based activities as significant predictors of self-compassion (<i>p</i> < .005). <b>Conclusions:</b> The findings indicate that nursing students' self-compassion is closely linked to their spiritual health and perceptions of spiritual care-giving. Integrating holistic and spiritual components into nursing education may enhance students' self-compassion and foster the development of compassionate care in clinical practice.
Authors
- Ebru Başkaya (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3485-2039)
- Fatma Salkım
- Tuğçe Erdal
- Durmuş Ali Gelmez
Institutions
- Usak University (TR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Holistic Nursing
- Published
- 2026-03-26
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1177/08980101261430892
- Primary Topic
- Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00