The relationship between the strength of religious faith and spirituality in relation to post-traumatic growth among nurses caring for COVID-19 patients in eastern Poland: a cross-sectional study

Grzegorz Józef Nowicki; Daria Schneider-Matyka; Iwona Godlewska; Andrzej Tytuła; Marzena Kotus; Monika Walec; Elżbieta Grochans; Barbara Ślusarska

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1331033

The relationship between the strength of religious faith and spirituality in relation to post-traumatic growth among nurses caring for COVID-19 patients in eastern Poland: a cross-sectional study

Front Psychiatry. 2024 Jan 8:14:1331033. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1331033. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Grzegorz Józef Nowicki¹, Daria Schneider-Matyka², Iwona Godlewska³, Andrzej Tytuła^{4

5}, Marzena Kotus⁶, Monika Walec¹, Elżbieta Grochans², Barbara Ślusarska¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Family and Geriatric Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland.
² Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin, Szczecin, Poland.
³ Second Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Therapy, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland.
⁴ Head Chamber of Nurses and Midwives, Warszawa, Poland.
⁵ Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Economics and Innovation, Lublin, Poland.
⁶ Department of Anaesthesiological and Intensive Care Nursing, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland.

Abstract

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic had forced intensive care unit (ICU) nurses to adapt to extreme conditions in a short period of time. This resulted in them experiencing extremely stressful situations. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between post-traumatic growth (PTG) and religiosity and spirituality (R/S) among nurses caring for COVID-19 patients in intensive care during the pandemic.

Materials and methods: 120 nurses working in Lublin, eastern Poland, participated in the cross-sectional study. The questionnaire was made up of three standardised tools: The Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory, The Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire, The Spiritual Attitude and Involvement List.

Results: In terms of spirituality, the study group of nurses achieved the highest score in the Connectedness with Nature subscale (4.37 ± 1.07), while the strength of religious beliefs had a positive correlation with post-traumatic growth only in the Spiritual changes subscale (r = 0.422, p < 0.001). The following dimensions of spirituality were significantly correlated with post-traumatic growth in the multi-factor model that included religiosity and spirituality: Transcendent experiences, Spiritual activities, Meaningfulness, Acceptance, and Trust. We saw that increase in the assessment of the Transcendent experiences, Meaningfulness and Trust subscales significantly mirrors increase in post-traumatic growth, while increase in the assessment of the Spiritual activities and Acceptance subscales significantly mirrors decrease in post-traumatic growth. The above variables explained up to 44% of the dependent variable.

Conclusion: Both religiosity and spirituality were significantly associated with post-traumatic growth in the group of ICU nurses, but spirituality appears to have played a larger role. Our findings support the value and significance of the development of spiritual and religious identity as a means of enhancing positive psychological changes in the face of traumatic events.

Keywords: COVID-19; nurses; post-traumatic growth; religion; spirituality.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The article processing charge was funded by the Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin.