Research Article

Spirituality in Care: Evaluating Midwifery Students’ Perceptions of Spiritual Support and Their Behavior in Providing Care in Line with a Spiritual Approach

Volume: 15 Number: 3 September 30, 2025
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Spirituality in Care: Evaluating Midwifery Students’ Perceptions of Spiritual Support and Their Behavior in Providing Care in Line with a Spiritual Approach

Abstract

Objective: The aim of the study is to evaluate midwifery students' perceptions of spiritual support and their caregiving behaviors according to the spiritual approach. Method: Our study is of descriptive type and was conducted between April 2024 and July 2024. 316 students who met the inclusion criteria and were students of Mersin University Midwifery Department participated in the study. Data were collected using the Informed Consent Form, Data Collection Form, Spiritual Support Perception Scale for Physicians, Midwives, and Nurses, and the Spiritual Care Competence Scale. Data were evaluated using licensed analysis software. Results: 57.9% of the students who participated in the study reported that they had heard of the concept of spiritual care. When asked what the concept of spiritual care meant to them, 57.4% identified it as “health belief”, 7% “life after death” and 21.5% as “responsibility towards others”. 94.2% of the students stated that they had not received training on spiritual care/spiritual midwifery before and 90.2% emphasized that spiritual care is a part of holistic care. The students' mean score on the Spiritual Support Perception Scale was 45.76±15.82 and was evaluated as "High". However, their mean score on the Spiritual Care Competence Scale was 3.32±0.93 and was determined as "Not Competent". Conclusion: The findings show that although students' perception of spiritual support is high, they are not sufficient in providing spiritual care. İt is recommended that topics that include moral support and spiritual approaches be added to the curriculum and that application evaluation parameters be adjusted accordingly.

Keywords

Supporting Institution

There is no institution supporting this research.

Project Number

Yok

Ethical Statement

Ethics Committee Approval Ethics committee approval was obtained from Mersin University Clinical Research Ethics Committee Presidency with the number 2024/342 dated 03/04/2024.

Thanks

We would like to thank all students who participated in our research.

References

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Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Clinical Midwifery

Journal Section

Research Article

Early Pub Date

September 27, 2025

Publication Date

September 30, 2025

Submission Date

April 16, 2025

Acceptance Date

September 3, 2025

Published in Issue

Year 2025 Volume: 15 Number: 3

APA
Eker, A., Özdemir, A. A., Varılmaz, E., & Özel, N. (2025). Spirituality in Care: Evaluating Midwifery Students’ Perceptions of Spiritual Support and Their Behavior in Providing Care in Line with a Spiritual Approach. Lokman Hekim Dergisi, 15(3), 1116-1124. https://doi.org/10.31020/mutftd.1677219
AMA
1.Eker A, Özdemir AA, Varılmaz E, Özel N. Spirituality in Care: Evaluating Midwifery Students’ Perceptions of Spiritual Support and Their Behavior in Providing Care in Line with a Spiritual Approach. Lokman Hekim Dergisi. 2025;15(3):1116-1124. doi:10.31020/mutftd.1677219
Chicago
Eker, Aslı, Asena Ayça Özdemir, Edanur Varılmaz, and Nazlı Özel. 2025. “Spirituality in Care: Evaluating Midwifery Students’ Perceptions of Spiritual Support and Their Behavior in Providing Care in Line With a Spiritual Approach”. Lokman Hekim Dergisi 15 (3): 1116-24. https://doi.org/10.31020/mutftd.1677219.
EndNote
Eker A, Özdemir AA, Varılmaz E, Özel N (September 1, 2025) Spirituality in Care: Evaluating Midwifery Students’ Perceptions of Spiritual Support and Their Behavior in Providing Care in Line with a Spiritual Approach. Lokman Hekim Dergisi 15 3 1116–1124.
IEEE
[1]A. Eker, A. A. Özdemir, E. Varılmaz, and N. Özel, “Spirituality in Care: Evaluating Midwifery Students’ Perceptions of Spiritual Support and Their Behavior in Providing Care in Line with a Spiritual Approach”, Lokman Hekim Dergisi, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 1116–1124, Sept. 2025, doi: 10.31020/mutftd.1677219.
ISNAD
Eker, Aslı - Özdemir, Asena Ayça - Varılmaz, Edanur - Özel, Nazlı. “Spirituality in Care: Evaluating Midwifery Students’ Perceptions of Spiritual Support and Their Behavior in Providing Care in Line With a Spiritual Approach”. Lokman Hekim Dergisi 15/3 (September 1, 2025): 1116-1124. https://doi.org/10.31020/mutftd.1677219.
JAMA
1.Eker A, Özdemir AA, Varılmaz E, Özel N. Spirituality in Care: Evaluating Midwifery Students’ Perceptions of Spiritual Support and Their Behavior in Providing Care in Line with a Spiritual Approach. Lokman Hekim Dergisi. 2025;15:1116–1124.
MLA
Eker, Aslı, et al. “Spirituality in Care: Evaluating Midwifery Students’ Perceptions of Spiritual Support and Their Behavior in Providing Care in Line With a Spiritual Approach”. Lokman Hekim Dergisi, vol. 15, no. 3, Sept. 2025, pp. 1116-24, doi:10.31020/mutftd.1677219.
Vancouver
1.Aslı Eker, Asena Ayça Özdemir, Edanur Varılmaz, Nazlı Özel. Spirituality in Care: Evaluating Midwifery Students’ Perceptions of Spiritual Support and Their Behavior in Providing Care in Line with a Spiritual Approach. Lokman Hekim Dergisi. 2025 Sep. 1;15(3):1116-24. doi:10.31020/mutftd.1677219

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                                                                  This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

  

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Mersin Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Tıp Tarihi ve Etik Anabilim Dalı Çiftlikköy Kampüsü

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