Spiritual Beliefs as a Factor in the Performance of Nursing Staff - Research Paper Example

? Project: Part 3—Translating Evidence Into Practice Juan Santiago Walden NURS 6052, Section 15, Essentials of Evidence-Based Practice Are spiritual beliefs a factor in the performance of nursing staff? What level of spirituality do nurses profess in their personal lives and what is the role of spiritualism in the ultimate healing of the patient and is professional training alone enough to keep nurses performing to standard and above? These questions are significant to nursing practice; in order to meet the demands of the population and increase both patient chances of survival and patient satisfaction the role of spiritualism as a factor considered motivational has been studied to evaluate its efficiency. Following a literature review nursing practices have been identified which contribute to better patient outcomes and advanced education has been noted to increase the ability of the nurse to provide spiritual care. Those nurse’s with more experience and those working at a higher grade have a greater understanding of spirituality (Noble, & Jones, 2010). The value of communication with non-verbal cues is necessary and spiritual care must be guided by the patients themselves. Communication has been identified as a strong factor in the ability to deliver appropriate spiritual care in Milligan, 2004; McSherry, 2006; and Ross, 2006 by Noble and Jones. A lack of time is also considered a barrier to providing spiritual care and the need for better education and training would be welcome by many. Spirituality among nurse’s is related positively to education levels and those having a Master’s degree. It is also related to 11-19 years clinical experience and having received spiritual education and training (Wu, & Lin, 2011). In Lind, Sendelbach, & Steen, (2011) nurses were described as feeling unprepared and unable to meet the spiritual needs of patients. Patient satisfaction surveys in a Minnesota cardiovascular progressive care unit determined that meeting the spiritual needs of patients in the unit was an area that needed improvement. The unit first analyzed the 2001 Joint Commission of 2001Press Ganey national inpatient data which indicated that there is a high value placed on emotional and spiritual care while patient’s are hospitalized. Second, there is a very strong correlation between meeting a patient’s emotional and spiritual needs to their overall satisfaction and third, this is area in most hospitals that provides opportunity for a significant improvement. Spiritual distress has been named as an appropriate nursing diagnosis by The North American Nursing Diagnosis Association and it is a recommendation of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing that spiritual care is included in all education programs. Despite this fact education and training seems to be lacking to many nurses. Only a small number of nurses feel that they are able to meet the spiritual and emotional needs of patients. The unit began offering a two hour voluntary education program to the nurses with time paid and which 37 or 70% of the nurses attended over the period of a year. The instructor who taught the class was from a local faith affiliated University and the hospital Chaplain participated in each training class. This education program included concepts such as defining spirituality, what spiritual care is, what prevents spiritual care, when to call the Chaplain and nursing interventions for spiritual care. Sessions were based on literature and staff surveys. The unit implemented a new survey, the HOPE survey, in order to provide spiritual assessment. The survey was taken from a teaching tool that was developed for Physicians. Likert type survey scores which measured patient satisfaction with spiritual and emotional care went up from 65% and 62% to 74% and 71% the two months following implementation of the training program. Pastoral care consultancies were increased from 16 to 27 per month and spiritual care plans were increased from 1 to 4 per month. The success of this program in the Minnesota cardiovascular progressive unit are further validated by a second study by Joseph, Laughon, & Bogue, (2011). In a 200 bed community hospital in the Southern United States a faith based philosophy focused on whole person care was implemented. Continuing education centered on mind, body and spirit in order to meet the spiritual needs of patients. This became a priority, based on the philosophy that modern nursing grew from spiritual roots. The theory of whole person care was evaluated using surveys which determined the comfort level and ability of the staff to provide this spiritual care. The continuing education that was provided to the staff made use of and identified certain themes; transactional relationships are the essence of nursing-patient interactions, patients are viewed as a whole and assessments include mind, body and spirit and effective communication which requires listening, touching, collaboration and evidence. Whole person care is a theory that was incorporated that researchers feel is much more so ‘lived’ by the nursing staff. Nursing leadership are working to continue the model of whole person care and by constant continuing education have shown high patient satisfaction ratings. With this evidence in view it appears important to include spiritual and emotional care in nursing care plans and daily patient care. Meeting these needs is part of providing patient care which is beneficial to the patient and promotes recovery. Consequences which were shown to result from the lack of spiritual and emotional care were lower scores in patient satisfaction. In a literature review by Chung, Wong, & Chan, 2007 it is stated that totality of care may be lost if spiritual care is not integrated and humans as treated holistically rather than as the sum of their parts. There is a direct correlation of nurses spirituality and to their understanding of spirituality and practice in spiritual care. In order to disseminate this information in my own organization I would first need to survey and interview employees in a similar fashion to determine their perception of spiritual and emotional care. From that point an education and training program would need to be implemented in order to ensure the staff were meeting patient needs. Patient surveys would be very useful in determining the patient’s current needs and how they are being met. Nursing staff in-service’s and continuing education courses should be offered with regularity to meet the needs of staff who feel inadequate and unable to provide spiritual and emotional care to patients. For those who feel they do not have enough time spiritual and emotional care needs to be implemented during their normal rounds. For those in opposition of implementing new spiritual and emotional care practices the benefits and statistics that we are able to provide with patients satisfaction surveys will eliminate doubts that staff may have that this plan will be beneficial. Summary With increased health problems and an aging population nursing care is in demand more than ever. Meeting the needs of patients in all possible ways which are conducive to healing and good health requires nursing staff to be skilled in spiritual and emotional care. Though professional training is extremely important in the acquisition of technical knowledge nurses are more often requesting further education and training in spiritual and emotional care. Higher levels of nursing education are a positive attribute in the ability of the nurse to provide this care. Nurses and facilities able to meet these needs have patients who feel satisfied with the care they receive. Literature points out that education and training are desired by nursing staff and that nurse’s feel inadequate, incompetent, short of time and unable to provide this care in many cases. There is a correlation between the nurse’s own spirituality and the care that they are able to provide. Spiritual distress is a nursing diagnosis that is often unrecognized in by nursing staff. Studies show that patient satisfaction is related to the patient’s spiritual and emotional needs being met. Nurse’s in specialized care units are more often attentive and aware of these needs. Nurses who are offered training and education in spirituality, whole person care, and emotional care respond with enthusiasm and feel better able to meet needs. Programs and in-service training does not have to be lengthy; several hours of education can refresh nurses and inspire them to become excellent spiritual care providers. Spiritual and emotional care is related directly to patient healing and it is the health care providers to promote the well-being of the patient in all possible ways. When nurses are provided further training the level of patient satisfaction has been shown to increase. More study needs to be completed on the relation of spiritual care and healing in the health care environment. References Chung, L., Wong, F., & Chan, M. (2007). Relationship of nurses' spirituality to their understanding and practice of spiritual care. Journal Of Advanced Nursing, 58(2), 158-170. Joseph, M., Laughon, D., & Bogue, R. (2011). An examination of the sustainable adoption of whole-person care (WPC). Journal Of Nursing Management,19(8), 989-997. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2834.2011.01317.x Lind, B., Sendelbach, S., & Steen, S. (2011). Effects of a spirituality training program for nurses on patients in a progressive care unit. Critical Care Nurse,31(3), 87-90. doi:10.4037/ccn2011372 Noble, A., & Jones, C. (2010). Getting it right: oncology nurses' understanding of spirituality. International Journal Of Palliative Nursing, 16(11), 565-569. Wu, L., & Lin, L. (2011). Exploration of clinical nurses' perceptions of spirituality and spiritual care. The Journal Of Nursing Research: JNR,19(4), 250-256. doi:10.1097/JNR.0b013e318236cf78 Read More