This research aimed to describe nursing students’ perceptions of spirituality and spiritual care and their spiritual care competencies and to investigate the relationship between these variables. The sample of this descriptive and correlational study consisted of 325 nursing students. The questionnaires used in the study were the Student Nurse Information Form, the Spirituality and Spiritual Care Rating Scale, and the Spiritual Care Competency Scale. The mean scores of the Turkish versions of Spirituality and Spiritual Care Rating Scale and Spiritual Care Competency Scale were 3.90 ± 0.45 and 3.69 ± 0.68. Importance to giving spiritual care to the patients in nursing care, willingness to receive training in spiritual care, and listening to patients to meet their spiritual requirements accounted for 17% of the spirituality and spiritual care perceptions of the students (F = 16.118, P = .001, R ² = 0.17). The participants’ spirituality and spiritual care perception levels accounted for 14% of their spiritual care competences (F = 16.851, P = .001, R ² = 0.14). It was determined that the students’ perceptions of spiritual care competence were not at the desired level and that they should be improved. Therefore, it is recommended that changes should be made in the curricula and that training programs should be improved in order to strengthen students’ spiritual care competency.

The aim of this research was to determine Turkish nursing students’ knowledge, practices and perceptions of spirituality and spiritual care and to investigate the relationship between their perceptions and their demographics. This study was a descriptive survey conducted at a nursing school providing degree-level education in the city of Manisa, in the western part of Turkey. The sample of the study consisted of the 400 nursing students. A nursing student sociodemographic form, a form on nursing students’ knowledge and practices of spirituality and spiritual care, and the Spirituality and Spiritual Care Rating Scale were used to collect the data. Half of the students could meet patients’ or individuals’ spiritual needs, and the spiritual care that they gave was most frequently listening, empathy, and psychological support. The research findings were that nursing students’ perceptions of spirituality and spiritual care were “sufficiently” although not “very sufficiently” defined. Being female, being in the second year of education and seeing spiritual care education as necessary were determinants of their perceptions of spirituality and spiritual care.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of an osteoporosis prevention program based on the Health Belief Model for women between the ages of 30 years and 45 years at risk of osteoporosis. This study was conducted with randomized control group pretest, post-test and follow-up trial. Intervention group (n = 37) and control group (n = 36) participated in the research. Data were collected using a sociodemographic data questionnaire, the Osteoporosis Knowledge Test, the Osteoporosis Health Belief Scale, the Osteoporosis Self-efficacy Scale, a monitoring form for estimated dairy calcium intake, and a monitoring form for estimated weekly exercise. Intervention program was composed of a 4-week education program and a 24-week counseling program. Data were collected pretest, post-test 15 days after the end of the education program, follow-up 1 after 3 months, and follow-up 2 after 6 months. Mann Whitney U test, chi-square test, Friedman test, Bonferroni test, two means test and Wilcoxon signed-rank test were used for statistical analysis. After the education and counseling program, a significant increase was seen in comparison with the control group in the mean scores of the intervention group on the Osteoporosis Knowledge Test and its subscales (p < .001), on the Osteoporosis Health Belief Scale and its subscales (p < .001), on the Osteoporosis Self-efficacy Scale and its subscales (p < .001), and in their daily calcium intake (p < .001) and duration of weekly exercise (p < .001). The results of this study were evidence that showed the effects of Health Belief Model-based osteoporosis prevention education and counseling program conducted by nurses.