Spiritual Needs Assessment
Use the articles provided in the readings for this module. The Joint Commission provides some guidelines for creating spiritual assessment tools for evaluating the spiritual needs of patients. Using these resources and any other guidelines/examples you can find, make up your own tool for assessing the spiritual needs of patients. 1.The spiritual-needs assessment tool should include a minimum of five questions that can either be answered by the patient and/or by your observation of the patient. The information can be presented in a Word document, in a table, or in questionnaire format. Using your assessment-tool questions, practice completing a spiritual assessment with a patient, family member, or friend. Once complete, analyze your results in 750-1000 words, with the following: 1.Write a brief summary of your assessment findings. 2.What significant discoveries did you make about the individual you chose to assess? 3.What went well? 4.What would you do differently in the future? 5.Were there any barriers or challenges that inhibited your ability to complete the assessment tool? How would you address these in the future or change your assessment to better address these challenges? 6.Describe the spiritual experience you had with your patient, family member, or friend using this tool. How does this tool allow you to better meet the needs of your patient? Prepare this assignment according to the APA guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required. This assignment uses a grading rubric. Instructors will be using the rubric to grade the assignment; therefore, students should review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the assignment criteria and expectations for successful completion of the assignment. Submit your assessment tool, patient answers, and your analysis of how the assessment went to the instructor.
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Introduction
Meeting the spiritual needs of any patient is part of daily care that any caregiver should provide to a patient. However, many caregivers are often uncomfortable performing spiritual assessments on their patients. This is especially challenging when patients have no idea/clue of their spiritual/religious beliefs or has an unfamiliar belief to the caregiver (Dameron, 2005). In implementing aspects especially those related to palliative care, several instruments used to assess different domains with one of the domains being the spiritual domain. An aspect of spiritual care that should be prioritized is a systematic approach that can be used to acquire the spiritual history of a patient (Borneman, Ferrell, & Puchalski, 2010).
A spiritual needs assessment is the process whereby caregivers identify the spiritual needs of a patient that pertain to their health care (Puchalski, Ferrell, Otis-Green, & Handzo, 2014). A good spiritual history is more than a simple list of organized religions as it requires a broader inquiry of the beliefs and values of the patients, their ability to find meaning and hope during illness, and the recognition of the role of spirituality/religion in the life of the patient. It also includes the importance of the religious rituals, identification of faith traditions, and an evaluation of the impact of the current illness on the patient’s spiritual wellbeing (Borneman, Ferrell, & Puchalski, 2010).
Spiritual Assessment Interview
1 What is your faith or belief?
2 Do you consider yourself spiritual or religious?
3 Does your faith/belief believe in prayer?
4 Do you use prayer in times of illness?
5 Does your faith/belief including prayer provide you with strength and hope?
6 How would you describe your life’s philosophy?
7 What is the name of your religious leader?
8 What does suffering mean according to your faith?
9 What does dying mean according to your faith?
10 What role does the church play in your life?
What are your spiritual goals?
How faith helps you get through the illness?
How would you like your caregiver to use this spiritual information while caring for you?
Summary
The assessment revealed that the individual identified herself as being a Christian and further asserted that she considered herself as being a staunch Christian hence a strongly religious person. Her religion believed in prayer and that she always used prayer especially in times of illness as her faith believes that their higher power has healing abilities, and this provided her with strength and hope. However, she revealed that her boyfriend provided her with more hope and strength compared to her religious beliefs in times of illness. In addition, she was not sure of her life’s philosophy, but on further thought revealed that she did not have any philosophy of life. Moreover, she did not know the name of her religious leader and did not know both the meaning of dying or suffering as contained in her faith and did not possess any spiritual goals. She admitted that her faith played a minor role in getting through illness and that her boyfriend was her main strength in times of illness. Finally, she suggested that the caregiver should use this information to determine wh...