The Spiritual-Needs Assessment Tool - Essay Example

 Assessment Questions Responses from a patient Are you a religious or spiritual person? Yes, I am a Christian of the Catholic denomination. How important is your spirituality to you? It is very important to me at all times. When I am well, I go to Mass every day. Would you like these to be addressed in your care Yes, my spirituality must be included in my care Is there a specific spiritual aspect you need addressed in your healthcare? Yes, I need my Bible and Rosary with me at all times and should not be mishandled by the health care team. Are there specific times that you need for your prayers? Yes. 6.00-6.30 a.m. and. 6.00-6.30 p.m. Are there reservations that you would like to be observed because of your Spirituality? No, if there is anything I will communicate to you. From the assessment tool I used to assess the spiritual nature and needs of the patients, it is clear that he is a spiritual person and would want his care to observe his spiritual needs. He identified himself as a Christian and a member of the Catholic Church. He is very specific with what he needs despite the fact that the needs are not many. The patient wanted to be reassured of certain aspects about his spirituality. For example, he wanted to be sure that any member of the healthcare team that will be treating him would not interfere with his personal belongings that relate to spirituality such as the rosary and the Bible. He also was categorical to seek assurance that his prayer time will be clearly be provided for and that no person would interfere with such times. I made several significant discoveries about the patient that I chose to assess. First, I found out that morality and ethics were high on his list of spiritual needs. The illness he had was a challenge and struggle to him and he needed guidance and support in maintaining a commitment to his principles that for a foundation of his spiritual life. For example, because of the realization that he could not make the decision by himself to do as he pleases in regard to his spiritual needs, for instance going to the mass, he requested that he be given particular times both in the morning and in the evening so that he can pray without disturbance. He also requested that his belongings for his spiritual needs be respected. He could not allow the fact that he was sick to interfere with his spiritual ethics and morality. Secondly, I discovered that the patient wanted his spiritual needs to be respected by the health care team and that he could put his trust on them to do exactly that. To him respect and trust were very important as aspects that could help the healthcare team to fulfill his spiritual needs. His requests acted as an agreement between him and the healthcare team who will be providing care for him while he was in hospital. Therefore, this agreement ought to be respected (The Joint Commission, 2008). Thirdly, I discovered that the patient was not ready at any cost to compromise his spiritual needs even though he was ill. He made it clear that his personal belongings required for his spiritual needs and the time that he needed for his prayers were some of the things that must be clearly defined and be recorded so that no confusion can be made about them. Lastly, I discovered that patients really need the help of health care professionals in fulfilling their spiritual needs because they are not in a position to do that by themselves when they are ill. I also discovered that fulfilling the spiritual needs of the patient helps in their physical health recovery because of the comfort and hope that they gain from it. In the assessment, everything went as I had planned. The patient responded to all the questions that I asked him and even offered to elaborate so that I could understand him well. He was ready to give all information required without difficulty and his responses were also polite even when he was giving information that to him was mandatory to be taken into consideration. The patient was cooperative and he knew that reveling his spiritual needs would help the healthcare team be able to offer him with the best care that he needed under the condition that he was in (Lunder, Furlan & Simonic, 2011). Despite the fact that I explained to him why I was carrying out an assessment of his spiritual needs, in future I will seek to explain to the patient specifically how that information will be used in the provision of care for him or her when under the care of healthcare professionals. Secondly, I would also seek to ensure that this assessment is done immediately when a patient is admitted because this assessment was carried out the next day after the patient because the patient had been admitted at night. I realized that this assessment should be taken along with other information about the patient to prevent chances of handling a patient against his or her spiritual or religious beliefs (Galek, Flannelly, Vane & Galek, 2005). I did not face many barriers with my patient, as he was very cooperative. However, I faced a challenge in taking the assessment immediately when he was admitted because he needed emergency attention and was brought by an ambulance without any family member or friend. Therefore, I had to wait up to the next day. I had an informative experience with the patient when using the spiritual assessment needs tool as it informed me as a health care professional of the needs that were to be taken care of so as to help the patient achieve a holistic healing. The tool helps me to better meet the needs of the patient because it helps in learning about the patient spiritual needs, which could as well be considered as personal needs and are important in the care period while under my care. References Lunder, U., Furlan, M., & Simonic, A. (2011). Spiritual needs assessments and measurements. Current opinion in supportive and palliative care, 5(3), 273-278. Galek, K., Flannelly, K. J., Vane, A., & Galek, R. M. (2005). Assessing a patient's spiritual needs: a comprehensive instrument. Holistic Nursing Practice, 19(2), 62-69. The Joint Commission, (2008). Standards FAQ Details: Spiritual Assessment. Retrieved August 17, 2014 from http://www.jointcommission.org/standards_information/jcfaqdetails.aspx?StandardsFaqId=290&ProgramId=1 Read More