The relationship between moral, cultural, and spiritual competences with aggression of psychiatric nurses: a...

The stressful work conditions that psychiatric nurses face on a daily basis can lead to constant exposure to a wide range of negative emotions and stressors, such as aggression, which can have serious negative consequences for their mental health and well-being. It seems that moral, cultural, and spiritual competencies are the crucial personality traits that contribute significantly to both individual mental well-being and the ability to effectively manage aggression. This study aimed to examine the correlation between the moral, cultural, and spiritual competencies of psychiatric nurses with the levels of aggression experienced by them.

A cross-sectional study was conducted from January to December 2024 on 200 nurses working in the psychiatric department of four teaching hospitals (Iran, Razi, Rouzbeh, and Taleghani), Tehran, Iran. Stratified random sampling was used to select the participants. The participants completed self-administered questionnaires, including the Medical Science Graduates' Cultural Competency Questionnaire, the Spiritual Care Competence Scale (SCCS), the Nurses' Professional Values Scale-Revised (NPVS-R), and the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ) were used to collect data. Data were analyzed using the Pearson correlation test and linear regression analysis.

The mean age of the participants was 35.13 ± 8.01 years. The mean scores of moral competence were 104.88 ± 19.34; cultural competence 200.02 ± 29.92, spiritual competence 102.06 ± 18.91, and aggression 59.69 ± 22.41. Findings showed that aggression had a statistically significant negative correlation with moral competence (r=-0.341, p < 0.001), cultural competence (r=-0.422, p < 0.001), and spiritual competence (r=-0.404, p < 0.001). The dimensions of spiritual competence (β=-1.189, P = 0.003), activism (β=-3.426, P < 0.001), justice (β = 4.948, P < 0.001), and professionalization and improvement of the quality of spiritual care (β = 2.091, P = 0.024) have the greatest effect on the psychiatric nurses' aggression, respectively (Table 4).

This study concluded that nurses' aggression may be reduced by strengthening their moral, cultural, and spiritual competencies. Clinical managers and health policymakers are encouraged to provide psychiatric nurses with education to improve their moral, cultural, and spiritual competency, which may lead to reduced anger.

Not applicable.