Design/Sample/Setting: A cross-sectional correlational survey design was used with a convenience sample of 473 undergraduate and graduate nursing students at four university settings.

Method: The survey consisted of (a) a demographic questionnaire with items addressing personal and educational variables, (b) a 21-item spirituality instrument with items on spiritual beliefs and involvement (Hatch et al., 1998) and two additional global indicators on spirituality and religiosity, and (c) a 50-item willingness to serve underserved and disenfranchised populations instrument (Spalding, 2002) which assessed the willingness of participants to deliver services to or provide care for members of 50 different populations or groups.

Analysis: Data analysis consisted of (a) exploratory data analysis, (b) reliability estimates for study instruments, (c) descriptive statistics and tests for group differences for demographic variables, and (d) descriptive statistics for major study variables as well as individual instrument items. Six study hypotheses were tested using bivariate correlations and multiple regression techniques.

Findings: Four hypotheses were supported by study data, and two hypotheses were unsupported. Using multiple regression, the model was significant at each step, and the overall model was highly significant.

Implications: Nurse educators need to: 1. broaden the assessment skills of student nurses to include the spiritual dimension and faith development stages; 2. develop curricula which enable nursing students to be aware of their own biases and comfort level when dealing with underserved and disenfranchised populations.

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Back to 15th International Nursing Research Congress
Sigma Theta Tau International
July 22-24, 2004