The Spiritual Care Competence Scale: A Confirmatory Study of the Malay Language Version

Abstract

Background: Nursing competency is an integral part of providing patients with spiritual care. The aim of
this study was to validate the translation of the spiritual care competence (SCC) scale to the Malay language
version.
Methods: The cross-section study design applicable to the SCCS-M self-report questionnaire. Data were
collected from staff nurses at the hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia. A total of 270 nurses participated in
this study. Spiritual care competence was assessed with the 27-item SCC-M. Standard forward–backward
translation was performed to translate the English version of the SCC into the Malay version (SCC-M). All
the participants completed the SCC-M.
Results: The initial measurement models tested (6-factor models) did not result in a good fit to the data.
Subsequent investigation of the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) results recommended some modifications,
including adding correlations between the item residuals within the same latent variable. These modifications
resulted in acceptable fit indices for the 6-factor model: root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA)
= .050, comparative fit index (CFI) = .900, Tucker–Lewis index (TLI) = .885, and standardized root mean
square residual (SRMR) = .065. The final measurement models comprised all 27 SCC-M items, which had
significant factor loadings of more than .40. The composite reliability was .696-.853 for 6-factors model.
Conclusions: These results suggest that the subscales in 6-factor SCC-M model are unique, the factors do
not overlap much, and each factor explains different variance than the other factors. Therefore, the translated
version of the SCC-M was valid and reliable for assessing the level of spiritual care competence among
hospital nurses in Malaysia.