An Integrative Review of Spiritual Assessment in Nursing

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Revelations about the Patient, what went well
What I would do differently in Future
Barriers experienced, and how to address them in future
The spiritual experience
How the tool helps in meeting patient’s needs
Conclusion
References
Questionaire

Introduction

There is a growing relationship between medicine and spirituality. Recent studies suggest that in the care of the terminally ill patients, the spiritual connection is as important as their psychological, existential, and social support. Spiritual assessment, hence, is a vital component of a holistic treatment and, in order to ensure a complete body, soul and mind restoration should be factored in all health institutions.

The study utilizes the Faith, Importance, Community and Address (FICA) model of study that works to assess the patient’s faith and beliefs, importance and community as well as address points of concern as listed by the patient (Hodge, 2013).

The study analyses the results of a questionnaire as a spiritual needs assessment tool. It constitutes the result of a family member with an incurable disease and his take on spirituality especially when, and after the diagnosis was done. The study clearly shows the dire need to incorporate the aspect of spirituality in such patients. The study showed how much the inclusion of spirituality during the treatment hastened the healing process and uplifted the patient’s self-esteem.

Through the process the patient has now firmly established himself as a believer and serves to call other patients to the same belief, in addition to this, the study clearly shows that the impact of the study has influenced his family’s beliefs as they all now accept spirituality.

Revelations about the Patient, what went well

The patient under study is Fred, a father of five who fell ill in January 2010. After various attempts to manage the prevailing signs and symptoms of what started as a subtle thing, he had to go and get a prostate cancer test. The test turned out to be positive. This was a true time of test for the entire family since the wife was negative.

Prior to his illness, Fred was not so much into spirituality. Even though he is now a great admirer of the spirituality and meditates quite often, it took a lot to turn his thoughts into religion and spirituality. When he fell ill and the diagnosis came out as prostate cancer, he felt like it was a death sentence and nothing was going to change that. After days of hospitalization, I, being the family doctor, came up with the idea of building up his self-esteem, hope, and faith and soon he was back on his feet.

I encouraged him to focus on living right and pray daily. Even though he is still under medication, he is far much healthy and living positively. During the interview, all went well in that the interview took place as scheduled and he shared intimately about his life.

What I would do differently in Future

In future, what I would do differently is prepare the patient in prior for our meeting, since the one analyzed was kind of an ambush. Again, the atmosphere of the work place does not seem to favor such a discussion because of its interference with the other patients.

Barriers experienced, and how to address them in future

One of the barriers that hindered my ability to implement the assessment tool was the distance between us. Since the patient regained his normal functions, he went back to work in a different town and was later transferred to a much convenient location near his home and schools where he does his inspirational talks. This made it hard to set up a physical meeting.

Even though the choice tool for data collection was a questionnaire, I filled it up with the recorded telephone conversation we had. Secondly, because of his busy schedule and nature of work, the conversation was limited to a certain fixed time and was frequently interrupted whenever he was needed to answer a query on the other side. To avoid this challenges next time, I would strive to travel if need be in order to have proper time and feedback from the patient.

Physical presence also makes it easy to interact with the patients also allows the interviewer to participate emotionally with the patient analysis the real experience as is being shared. Dameron (2005) suggests that an earlier arrangement of a meeting gives one an edge in setting up his schedule, and as such next time a properly scheduled interview would be done to avoid interruptions of any kind.

The spiritual experience

The spiritual experience during the interview was deep and emotional. It was evident that as much as the doctors did the best in their field, a huge part of the of the patients healing and recovery process was through the impact of his spiritual belief, the belief that there was a supreme being who could do anything for him and actually did and still does.

It is a overwhelmingly convincing thought and belief and seeing the photos of the patient during treatment and what he is now, one is convinced of the existence of God, and his ability to restore as well as heal to health. It also brings to light the fact that some illnesses are more psychological than physical and a single belief can work it out for you.

How the tool helps in meeting patient’s needs

This tool enables the caregivers and those around the patient a way to attend to some of the patients’ needs. A patient whose faith and spiritual belief has helped him or her recover from a disease is easy to manage as compared to one with no spiritual inclination (Draper, 2012) In addition to this those with spiritual mentors; those who urge them on whenever they are giving up also make quick recoveries.

Conclusion

In conclusion, though at times uncomfortable, spiritual needs assessment is seemingly a required remedy to patients. Questionnaires with easy to answer questions can be used by nurses and other caregivers to determine the patients spiritual beliefs and faith. The questions should be open-ended and should not impose any religion or belief on the patient. This is because not all believe in the spiritual world and happenings.

References

Draper, P. (2012). An integrative review of spiritual assessment: implications for nursing management.Journal Of Nursing Management, 20(8), 970-980.

Hodge, D. R. (2013). Implicit Spiritual Assessment: An Alternative Approach for Assessing Client Spirituality. Social Work, 58(3), 223-230.

Questionaire

Patient’s name (optional)

Do you have any spiritual beliefs?
Is there anything you believe in that gives meaning to life?
Has your illness affected your beliefs and practices?
Are you affiliated to any faith-based organization? Do you have a spiritual mentor?
What kind of support can I give towards nourishing your beliefs?
How has your illness affected your family?

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