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Background: The work involving helping people in difficult life situations requires specific competencies among those providing professional care. This study aims to determine the relationship of spiritual care with compassion for others and the Light Triad among clergy, social workers and hospice staff, and identify differences in the variables analysed. Study subjects and methods: The study was conducted among 578 individuals who belong to three professional groups: clergy (n = 183), social workers (n = 199) and hospice staff (n = 195), aged between 18 and 89 years. The study used the Spiritual Supporter Scale (SpSup Scale), the Compassion for Others Scale and the Light Triad Scale. Results: There were correlations for the vast majority of the variables studied. However, the correlations differed among the groups surveyed, especially in terms of the relationships of spiritual concern with indifference, faith in people, and humanism. Intergroup differences were observed. In terms of spiritual care, clergy had the highest scores while hospice staff had the lowest. In terms of compassion for others, clergy and social workers scored higher than hospice staff. In terms of the light triad, clergy had higher levels of faith in people than hospice staff, while social workers had higher levels of Kantianism compared to hospice staff. Conclusions: There were mixed results in terms of competencies in compassion and spiritual care and there were lower competencies among hospice staff compared to the other groups surveyed. The data obtained could be used as a basis for the offer of training courses and workshops to enhance the competencies relevant to the profession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study is the analysis of individual demand for the support of palliative care workers after the death of patients. The care of the petients int the end of their lives is a difficult, costbuilding situation. Developing close relationships in the course of care results in certain emotional, cognitive and behavioural-somatic responses experienced by employees after the death of the patients. Working with the dying, without a doubt, requires the support of professional caregivers. The research deals with the experience of the patients with cancer as well as their families. To a lesser extent the science related to palliative care and psychoonkology seem to deal with the issues of professional caregivers. Material and methods: The researched were 130 health and non-medical professionals from 9 palliative care centres. The methods used in research were the author's tools: The Expected Support Questionnaire (ESQ) and The Grief Questionnaire (SLQ), standardized and normalized (the integrity of the test: SLQ - 0.84; for ESQ - 0.88; accuracy test SLQ - 0.92; for ESQ - 0.94). Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was used in calculations. The research results: the employees of palliative care in the context of the experienced reactions after the death of patients indicate the individual demand for support in emotional, informational, and instrumental areas to a statistically significant degree. It means that they expect appreciation for and promotion at work, information on training and opportunities for exchange of experiences, as well as instructing on how to modify their behaviour at work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]