Nursing and midwifery students' knowledge on prayer rites for the patients in Fars Province, southern Iran

Background: Nurses and midwives may require answering patients' questions on religious rites while performing their clinical duties. The present study was conducted to find out the nursing and midwifery students' knowledge on some prayer rites for the patients in Fars Province, southern Iran. Methods: 323 students of nursing and midwifery were enrolled, among them 290 filled out the questionnaire. The scores of 9 questions, i.e. those about the rituals of prayer were based on 20. Results: Although the majority of the students were regular prayers.(72%), the score on some obligatory prayer rites for the patients was less than 10 out of 20 in 83.4% of the subjects. In 14.8% of participants, it was 10 to 13.99, and in 1.7% it was equal to or more than 14. The majority of the students were not only regular prayers, but also they insisted on doing it on time. Including courses on the obligatory rites for the patient's prayer as well as other rites was mentioned by the students as a necessity. It is suggested that such courses be included in the educational program for the students of nursing and midwifery.