Spiritual Assessment

Questions Asked (use bullet points)

Interviewee Responses (use bullet points)

· Do you belong to any religious or spiritual community?

· What is your source of strength, hope and comfort?

· Do you believe in a higher power?

· What lifestyle activities or practices does your religion encourage, discourage, or forbid?

· What does your spirituality/religion mean to you?

· Are there any unresolved areas in your life at this point that you would like us to assist you with addressing?

· In what ways can the nursing staff assist you and your family during the time you are in homecare?

· Are there specific elements of nursing and medical care that your beliefs/religion discourage/ forbid?

· Are there any specific spiritual or religious beliefs or practices that you hold in regards to end of life?

Source: Blais & Hayes, 2016, p. 435

· “Yes, I belong to the faith that is named Hinduism”

· “The source of my strength is through meditation and attending the Hindu temple where I can meet with the members of my community and socialize around my friends”

· “We have many gods that someone might pick to follow. I follow the god Ganesh. He is the son of Lord Shiva (destroyer of worlds) and Goddess Parvati. Because I moved from Guyana to America I pray to Ganesh to help in my new ventures in this world/country.”

· “We are encouraged to meditate and do yoga daily to help us be more grounded and at peace with our mind, body, and soul. We are discouraged to judge people; we hope that if someone lives a pure life that karma would not bring them harm. We are forbidden to eat cow. Cow is a holy animal to use.”

· “My religion means everything to me. It is how I live my life.”

· “At this point in my life I do not feel like I have anything unresolved. I am a proud grandma; my granddaughter is in school to be a doctor. My goal is to get better and start to manage my disease and mental health.”

· “I would love for the homecare nurses to make sure take off their shoes when they enter my home. It is believed that walking round in dirty shoes in a house brings bad karma from the world into the house.”

· “I will not take any medications that might have animal products. I am vegetarian. Many people from my faith might not be vegetarian but will not

eat cow/beef. If at any point I will need a home

health aide to assist me, I ask for only female aides. In my faith we can not have a member of the opposite sex see us, unless it is our spouse. I know I am diabetic, but fasting is very important to me. I am working with my doctor to help control my sugar levels while fasting.

· Please remember that I would like to die at home not in a hospital. Death is a very important transition. There are many karmic implications that require proper prayer and rituals during the

transition of death.”

Nursing Action(s)-use bullet points

Why Chosen-use bullet points

· Assessed the client in contacting her temple to help arrange a swami (religious leader) to come visit the client at her home while she is with homecare.

· Ensured to take off my shoes every time I stepped into the patient’s home

· Keep an open line of communication between the patient and the nurse. This helps create trust between the patient and the nurse.

· Educated client on the spiritual support team that we have with the homecare agency

· Assigned a spiritual assessment guideline for all clinicians to use with all visits

Source: Blais & Hayes, 2016, p. 438.

· This will help the client stay connected with her religions group and leader while she is battling her disease at home. This will help the patient have a sense of connection and feel she is still remembered and cared for by her community and spiritual faith.

· Patient believes that if you wear shoes from outside that it will bring in bad karma from the world around her into her private house.

· This will ensure a therapeutic line of communicate between the patient and nurse and help develop a good working and trusting relationship

· This information provided allows the patient to know that if there are anytime during the homecare episode her leader can not make it over that she has support and another source

· If the guideline is embedded in the assessments, it will ensure spiritual assessments are completed and spiritual competence is addressed. It will be the

patient’s choice if she wants to address her spirituality every visit but at least it will be addressed.

Result of Nursing Action: Interviewee thoughts/reactions use bullet points

Your own thoughts/take-aways-use bullet points

· The patient reported that after seeing her swami she felt a sense of peace about her current health condition and was given more motivation mentally to keep fighting her health conditions

· The patient reported that she has been struggling with depression since she has moved from her home country and her son has been away on business. She stated that when clinicians address how she is feeling spiritually that she feels more connected with the clinicians.

· The most important thing that I took away from this assignment is the importance of completing a spiritual assessment when first meeting our patients

· We need to embed the assessment into our initial assessments and to repeat a modified assessment with each visit.

· The way a person views their health might be in direct connect to how they perceive their faith and spirituality

· When a patient is fighting a health condition, their faith or spirituality can be a great coping tool. Nurses who take the time to learn what their beliefs area can help guide positive coping.