Culturally Sensitive Spiritual Assessment

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When taking into account the specifics of daily health care and communication with patients, I would define the notion of spiritual care as the phenomenon of connecting the physical experiences of patients with one’s beliefs and perception of human life outside a purely biological point of view. Hence, spiritual care stands for the medical professionals’ ability to address the patients’ spiritual concerns and mental state while providing quality clinical care. Sometimes, a patient’s recovery heavily depends on the health care workers’ ability to discuss their motivation behind treatment and recovery in order for the patient to find a deeper meaning of their health challenges and their future. Such a point of view accords with the ideas outlined in the textbook, as the researchers perceive spirituality and holistic care as the professionals’ duty to understand and account for the patient’s worldview and spiritual values (Grand Canyon University, 2020). Furthermore, emphasis should be placed on the patient’s spiritual concerns regardless of the nurses’ spiritual and religious worldview.

While it is not required for nurses to be religious in order to address spirituality, there is no place for ignorance and discrimination in health care. Genuine interest in one’s spirituality may be manifested with the help of the HOPE framework, which encourages the professional to start a dialogue on spirituality with no direct reference to religion and spiritual practices, focusing on the individual sources of hope and strength instead (Anandarajah, 2005). Additionally, it is highly recommended the spiritual preferences be recorded in one’s medical history in order for them to be visible to the whole professional team (Timmins & Caldeira, 2017). When speaking of my health care institution, the general hospital has a Chaplain who addresses the patients’ spiritual and religious concerns. However, the presence of a Chaplain does not free the nurses from the responsibility of discussing spiritual aspects with the patients, as such communication is vital for establishing a trusting nurse-patient relationship.