The relationship between perceived stress and spiritual intelligence in special care nurses

Background: Spiritual intelligence as a basis of individual beliefs plays a fundamental role in various areas of human life, especially mental health promotion. Objective: This study investigated the relationship between spiritual intelligence and perceived stress among critical care nurses. Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was carried out on 115 nurses who were selected by non-random sampling method in a correlation manner. Data were gathered by using three questionnaires: demographic information, king's spiritual intelligence and Cohen's perceived stress questionnaire and analyzed by linear regression and correlation coefficient analysis. Findings: In this study 13 men and 102 women participated. The mean score of perceived stress (25.7±5.96) and spiritual intelligence score (50.28±14.35) were moderate. There was a reverse and significant relationship between spiritual intelligence and its subscales with perceived stress (r= -0.243 and P= 0.009). The study showed that spiritual intelligence and education level can be considered as predictive variables for perceived stress (P<0.001). Conclusion: Considering the significant relationship between spiritual intelligence and perceived stress and the predictive role of spiritual intelligence, one of the effective strategies in reducing stress can be shifting the attention of nurses towards spiritual intelligence and attempt to promote it.