Developing and testing the EPICC Spiritual Care Competency Self-Assessment Tool for student nurses and midwives

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Healthcare Practice
• Spiritual Care Competence

Background:

• Spiritual care is integral to nursing and midwifery roles.
• Benchmarking student competency in spiritual care is crucial.
• The EPICC Spiritual Care Education Standard informed tool development.

Purpose of the Study:

• Develop a psychometrically sound self-assessment tool.
• Measure undergraduate nursing and midwifery students' perceptions of spiritual care competence.
• Provide a tool for evaluating spiritual care skills in practice.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional, mixed-methods design utilizing STROBE checklist.
• International development and testing of the tool across five countries (n=323).
• Psychometric testing included validity (KMO, factor analysis, ANOVA, t-tests) and reliability (Cronbach's alpha).

Main Results:

• High sampling adequacy (KMO=0.90) and reliability (Cronbach's alpha=0.91).
• The tool demonstrated strong construct and discriminant validity.
• Students found the tool easy to use, insightful, though some items were repetitive.

Conclusions:

• The developed tool is valid and reliable for assessing spiritual care competence.
• It empowers students to self-evaluate spiritual care knowledge, skills, and attitudes.
• The tool facilitates discussion and evaluation of spiritual care competency among students, educators, and preceptors.