Self-perceived spiritual care competencies among nursing and midwifery students in Slovenia

Aim: Spiritual care is vital to patient-centred care, yet gaps persist in nursing and midwifery education. This study presents theself-assessed spiritual care competencies of Slovenian nursing and midwifery students. Design: A cross-sectional design was used. Methods: A non-experimental, cross-sectional design was applied to a purposive sample of 319 undergraduate and graduate nursing and midwifery students. Data were collected based on the Spiritual Care Competency Self-Assessment Tool. Results: The results showed that 51.7% (n = 165) of students demonstrated a moderate level of spiritual care competence, 40.4%(n = 129) achieved a good level and only 5.3% (n = 17) attained a high level. Nursing students scored significantly higher than midwifery students (p < 0.05), particularly in intrapersonal and interpersonal spirituality. Female students reported higher competence in spiritual care planning and interpersonal spirituality compared with males (p < 0.05). No significant differences were found regarding study format, year of study, or religious affiliation. Conclusions: The findings highlight the need for targeted educational interventions to improve spiritual care training, ensuring that all healthcare students develop the necessary competencies to provide holistic, patient-centered care. Patient or Public Contribution: Nursing and midwifery students participated in this study.