Spiritual Assessment
Spiritual Assessment
For this assignment I was ask to develop a spiritual assessment tool, interview a patient using this tool, summarize my findings, analyze my results, identify areas of improvement and describe the spiritual experience that this spiritual assessment offered to better meet the needs of my patient. Research indicates a close connection between spiritual needs and physical needs. Integrating spiritual assessment into patient care has become vital for hospital and other health care settings. Spiritual assessment in the hospital setting is also mandated by joint Commission on accreditation of Healthcare organizations (JCAHO). (Spiritual, 2009). I developed this tool using criteria from the HOPE assessment tool. This tool was originally created by Gowri Anadarajah and Ellen Hight from the department of family medicine at Brown University. The HOPE assessment lets nurses or other health care providers collect information in a non-threatening manner, it is brief and goes over critical areas. It also allows patients to tell their own story about important spiritual issues that might affect the patient’s physical health needs. “H=Sources of hope, meaning, comfort, strength, peace, love and connection. O= Organized religion. P= personal spirituality and practices and E= effects on medical care or end-of-life decisions” (Galek, Flannely, Vane, Galek, 2006). When completing a spiritual assessment tool it is important to always respect our patient’s spirituals beliefs and to be open minded. There is a lot we can learn by exploring our patient’s spirituality and a lot of modification we can make in their plan of care to meet their overall needs.
Summary of assessment findings Mrs. B.F. is a 52 yr old Hispanic female. Post surgical patient, who states God and the support of her family, gives her hope and strength in difficult times. She labels herself as “halfway catholic” and does not belong to a particular church. She attends church
For this assignment I was ask to develop a spiritual assessment tool, interview a patient using this tool, summarize my findings, analyze my results, identify areas of improvement and describe the spiritual experience that this spiritual assessment offered to better meet the needs of my patient. Research indicates a close connection between spiritual needs and physical needs. Integrating spiritual assessment into patient care has become vital for hospital and other health care settings. Spiritual assessment in the hospital setting is also mandated by joint Commission on accreditation of Healthcare organizations (JCAHO). (Spiritual, 2009). I developed this tool using criteria from the HOPE assessment tool. This tool was originally created by Gowri Anadarajah and Ellen Hight from the department of family medicine at Brown University. The HOPE assessment lets nurses or other health care providers collect information in a non-threatening manner, it is brief and goes over critical areas. It also allows patients to tell their own story about important spiritual issues that might affect the patient’s physical health needs. “H=Sources of hope, meaning, comfort, strength, peace, love and connection. O= Organized religion. P= personal spirituality and practices and E= effects on medical care or end-of-life decisions” (Galek, Flannely, Vane, Galek, 2006). When completing a spiritual assessment tool it is important to always respect our patient’s spirituals beliefs and to be open minded. There is a lot we can learn by exploring our patient’s spirituality and a lot of modification we can make in their plan of care to meet their overall needs.
Summary of assessment findings Mrs. B.F. is a 52 yr old Hispanic female. Post surgical patient, who states God and the support of her family, gives her hope and strength in difficult times. She labels herself as “halfway catholic” and does not belong to a particular church. She attends church
References: Spiritual Assessment. (2009). Worcester Guild of Catholic Association. Retrieved from http://www.worcestercma.org/SpiritualAssessment.html Anadarajah, G., & Hight, E. (2001, January 1). Spirituality and Medical Practice: Using the HOPE Questions as a Practical Tool for Spiritual Assessment. American Academy of Family Physicians, 81-89. Retrieved from http://www.aafp.org/afp/2001/0101/p81.html Galek, K., Flannelly, K., Vane, A., & Galek, R. (2006, April). Assessing patient 's spiritual Needs [Electronic version]. Holistic Nursing Practice, 19(2), 62-69. F, B. Personal interview. 28 Dec. 2011.