EFFECTIVENESS OF SMARTPHONE-BASED SPIRITUAL NURSING CARE ON ANXIETY IN CHILDREN
Abstract
Background: Hospitalization is a significant stressor in children and is frequently associated with heightened anxiety. Although spiritual care interventions have shown psychological benefits, evidence regarding digital spiritual nursing intervention in pediatric settings remains limited.
Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of smartphone-based spiritual nursing care in reducing anxiety among hospitalized children.
Methods: A quasi-experimental nonrandomized controlled pretest-posttest study was conducted in the pediatric inpatient ward of an Islamic hospital in Indonesia. Sixty children aged
under 18 years were recruited and allocated to the smartphone-based application Spiritual Islamic Nursing Care (SINC) group (n=30) or the control group receiving hospital-based murottal therapy (n=30). This study uses consecutive sampling. The intervention was delivered once daily for three consecutive days. Anxiety was measured at baseline and post-intervention using a validated observation sheet. Within-group changes were analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, and between-group differences were assessed using the Mann-Whitney U test. Effect sizes were calculated using r statistics.
Results: Both groups demonstrated significant reductions in anxiety scores following intervention (p<0,001). The reduction in anxiety was significantly greater in the SINC group compared with control group (p=0,001; r=0,44), indicating a moderate effect size.
Conclusion: Smartphone-based spiritual nursing care demonstrated greater effectiveness than standard spiritual therapy in hospitals in reducing anxiety among hospitalized children. Digital spiritual interventions may offer a scalable and culturally responsive approach to integrating spiritual care into pediatric nursing practice.Keywords
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.52365/jnc.v12i1.1670
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email: JNC@poltekkesgorontalo.ac.id