Spiritual development is one of the most important aspects of socialization that has attracted the attention of researchers. It is needed to train nursing student and novice nurses to provide high-quality care for patients. There is ambiguity in the definition of spiritual development and its relations, especially in the eastern countries.

To explore the concept of spiritual development in Iranian nurses.

Qualitative content analysis approach. Data were gathered from semi-structured interviews. Participants and research context: The participants were 17 Iranian Muslim nurses selected using a purposeful sampling. The place of interviews was on their choice.

Based on the principles of the Helsinki declaration, the focus was on preserving the participants’ autonomy, confidentiality, and anonymity. The participants were told the study purposes and trends, and their rights were emphasized; they were then asked to sign written consent forms. Formal research approval was obtained from Kerman University of Medical Sciences. Ethical approval was granted by the University Ethics Committee before the study was conducted (K/92 etc).

Three themes for spiritual development were defined: obligation to religion, commitment to ethics, and commitment to law. From the results, factors such as connection to the limitless divine power, personal and society-oriented ethical codes, and commitment to the law are proposed.

There are some differences between these findings and previous study, especially in the relation of the spirituality, religion, and law. Some studies, mostly Iranian, support these findings partially.

The results suggest that it is better to teach nursing education based on humanistic principles, ethics, and law to the new generation of nurses to improve community health and development. More studies are needed to examine the relation between these themes.