title: Spirituality, religiosity, and personal beliefs of Australian undergraduate nursing students.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore Australian nursing students' perceptions of spirituality, religiosity, and personal belief.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Spiritual and religious literature support the benefits to patients' physical and mental health. Nurses have an ethical obligation to understand and incorporate patient's spiritual beliefs and values into the care plan.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional survey was conducted using the 32-item WHO-QOL-SRPB questionnaire.
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample consisted of 483 undergraduate nursing students in Sydney, Australia.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 21% male and 79% female students; age ranged from 18 to 56 years, with a mean age of 26.53 (SD = 7.32). There were no significant difference between male and female nursing students, but there were difference in SRPB scores between first-, second-, and third-year students and between religious affiliations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Spirituality is multidimensional and multilevel and is interconnected with religiosity and personal belief. Nurses need to understand their own spirituality before they can incorporate spirituality in their patient care.
authors.affiliation: Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia ACT Health Directorate Research Centre for Nursing and Midwifery, Canberra Hospital, Garran, ACT, Australia nurvl@nus.edu.sg.
authors.forename: Violeta
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lopez
authors.affiliation: ACT Health Directorate Research Centre for Nursing and Midwifery, Canberra Hospital, Garran, ACT, Australia Australian Catholic University, North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Imke
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.affiliation: ACT Health Directorate Research Centre for Nursing and Midwifery, Canberra Hospital, Garran, ACT, Australia Australian Catholic University, North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Maria Cynthia
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Leigh
authors.affiliation: ACT Health Directorate Research Centre for Nursing and Midwifery, Canberra Hospital, Garran, ACT, Australia.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Larkin
authors.affiliation: ACT Health Directorate Research Centre for Nursing and Midwifery, Canberra Hospital, Garran, ACT, Australia Australian Catholic University, North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Sue
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Webster
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004508:Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012067:Religion; D029181:Spirituality; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Australian; nursing students; spirituality; survey design; transcultural health