# Analysis of Correlation Between the Core Competency Status and Spiritual Health of Nursing Intern Students

## TL;DR

This study explores how spiritual health affects the core competencies of nursing intern students, finding a strong positive relationship.

## Contribution

The novel contribution is identifying a significant correlation between spiritual health and nursing students' core competencies.

## Key findings

- Nursing intern students' core competencies are at a medium level, with critical thinking being the weakest area.
- Spiritual health explains 42.9% of the variance in core competencies among nursing interns.
- Factors like birthplace and career intentions influence core competency development.

## Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the current status of nursing intern students’ core competencies and their relationship with spiritual health.

Cultivating the core competencies of nursing intern students is a significant educational objective. As nursing intern students transition into clinical practice, they encounter heightened levels of stress, which can adversely impact both physical and mental health, potentially hindering the development of their competencies. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in spiritual health, which can help individuals cope with stress, promoting positive physical and mental health outcomes. However, the relationship between spiritual health and the core competencies of nursing intern students remains unclear.

Convenience sampling was used to recruit 312 nursing intern students from five tertiary hospitals in China. Data regarding sociodemographic characteristics, spiritual health, and core competencies were collected using online questionnaires from September 2022 to January 2023.

The overall average score of core competencies of nursing intern students (149.70 ± 19.09) was at a medium level, among which the score of critical thinking and reasoning ability was the lowest (11.28 ± 2.02). Univariate analysis shows that factors such as place of birth, reasons for choosing the nursing major, and employment intentions have an impact on the core competencies of nursing intern students. Correlation analysis indicated that the core competencies of nursing intern students were positively correlated with their spiritual health (r = 0.687, p < 0.01). Hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that spiritual health explained 42.9% of the total variance in core competencies (△R
2 = 0.429, p < 0.01).

This study shows that the core abilities of nursing intern students need to be improved, especially in terms of critical thinking and reasoning skills. In addition, their spiritual health level will have an impact on the development of core competencies.

The results of this study suggest that nursing managers and educators should attach importance to the spiritual health level of nursing intern students, take timely intervention measures, and enhance the core competencies of nursing intern students. This is the key to promoting the professional development of clinical nursing and facilitating the high‐quality development of nursing.