Spirituality, Religious Diversity and Holistic Nursing Care: University Education

Background: Spirituality and religious diversity are increasingly recognized as essen-tial components of holistic nursing care in global healthcare systems. However, their integration into undergraduate nursing education remains heterogeneous and often insufficiently structured, creating a gap between professional values and students’ preparedness to address spiritual needs in culturally diverse clinical environments. This study aimed to explore nursing students’ perceptions, attitudes, and perceived skills regarding spirituality, religion, and spiritual care, and the factors associated with these dimensions. Methods: A descriptive exploratory survey was conducted on a sample of 69 third-year students of the Degree Course in Nursing belonging to two Roman universities. Data were collected between May and July 2025 using the Nursing Care and Religious Diversity Scale (NCRDS), consisting of 31 items. Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, internal reliability analyses, group comparisons, and multivariate regression models. Results: Students showed moderate levels of attention to patients' spiritual needs and integration of spirituality into care practice, while high importance was given to spiritual care skills. University education was perceived as only partially adequate. Multivariate analyses showed that students' personal spiritu-ality is positively associated with the assessment of spiritual needs and the perception of competence, while exposure to contexts characterized by greater religious diversity is associated with a lower perception of preparedness. Conclusions: The results high-light a discrepancy between professional values and perceived operational skills, sug-gesting the need to systematically integrate spirituality and religious diversity into nursing curricula. A structured training approach could strengthen transferable pro-fessional skills and promote truly holistic and person-centred care.