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Nursing Spiritual Assessment 1

The document provides guidelines for conducting an initial spiritual assessment of patients. It recommends determining a patient's religious beliefs, values, and spiritual needs and resources. This can positively impact care, provide comfort, and increase trust. The FACT tool collects a spiritual history and assesses treatment needs, including referral to chaplaincy care. Sample questions assess faith, religious practices, concerns, and coping needs to identify support requirements. Positive and negative religious coping are described. Spiritual care involves compassionate listening and supporting hopes, fears, and meaning.

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Khibul Lim
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98 views22 pages

Nursing Spiritual Assessment 1

The document provides guidelines for conducting an initial spiritual assessment of patients. It recommends determining a patient's religious beliefs, values, and spiritual needs and resources. This can positively impact care, provide comfort, and increase trust. The FACT tool collects a spiritual history and assesses treatment needs, including referral to chaplaincy care. Sample questions assess faith, religious practices, concerns, and coping needs to identify support requirements. Positive and negative religious coping are described. Spiritual care involves compassionate listening and supporting hopes, fears, and meaning.

Uploaded by

Khibul Lim
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Initial Nursing Assessment

for Spiritual / Religious


Needs
Joint Commission Guidelines for Spiritual
Assessments
• Spiritual assessments are required by the Joint
Commission.
• A spiritual assessment should, at a minimum, determine
the patient’s religious beliefs (if any), as well as any
values or practices important to the patient.
• The main goal of a spiritual assessment should be to
identify the patient’s needs, hopes, resources, and
possible outcomes regarding their spirituality.
Other Benefits of A Spiritual Assessment

 Acknowledging spirituality can positively


affect the clinician-patient relationship.
 Addressing spiritual concerns with your
patient and their family can provide comfort
and increase trust-building.
 In itself the assessment becomes a therapeutic
intervention.
Important Considerations
• Respect the privacy of patients with regard to
their unique spirituality.
• Do not impose your own beliefs and practices
on others.
The FACT Initial Spiritual Assessment
Tool
• The FACT Tool is a hybrid of history and assessment.
• A Spiritual History collects information on spirituality and
religious practice that may help them cope with their
present health crisis.
• A Spiritual Assessment involves an informed judgment
concerning treatment options – including referral to a
chaplain for a more in-depth assessment.
FACT
• SPIRITUAL HISTORY
–FAITH
–ACTIVE ACCESS
–CONFLICT / CONCERNS
• SPIRITUAL ASSESSMENT
–TREATMENT PLAN
Nursing Intake Spiritual Assessment
Questions
• The following questions are part of a new spiritual
assessment process.
• Positive answers trigger instant referrals for follow-up
pastoral care, such as:
– Communion requests
– Communication with the patient’s religious congregation
– Consultation on issues of religious / cultural sensitivity
– In-depth spiritual assessment by a chaplain
– General emotional or spiritual support by a chaplain
Faith
• Can you confirm your religious affiliation that
I have recorded from your admission
documents? (Check patient's ID band for
religious affiliation). I see you are (religious
affiliation). Is this correct?

– Contact admissions office to update / correct this


information.
Faith
• If patient is Catholic, would he/she like to
receive communion?
– SCRIPT: “Eucharistic Ministry volunteers are
available daily to distribute communion to Catholic
patients and their families.”

– Generates an automatic referral to pastoral care.


Active Access
• Do you participate in a religious
congregation?
– SCRIPT: “Our pastoral care team will help you
contact them. I’ll let the team know of this
request.”

– Generates an automatic referral to pastoral care.


Active Access
• Pastoral care is offered to all patients.
Would you like me to expedite a visit from
one of the pastoral care team members?
– Call chaplain on duty (*072) if there is an
emergent need for pastoral support.

– “Yes” generates an automatic referral to


pastoral care.
Conflict / Concerns
• What cultural, spiritual, or religious practices
/ values are important for us to know?
– SCRIPT: “I’ll work with my colleagues to make sure
we work with you on these concerns.”

– Free-text assessed needs.

– Consult with Pastoral Care as appropriate.


Conflict / Concerns
• Do any of your religious practices conflict with or
affect how we will need to treat you while you are
here? (Example: diet, medication, visitors, privacy,
rituals.)
– SCRIPT: “I’ll work with my colleagues to make
sure we work with you on these concerns.”
– Free-text assessed needs.
– Update plan of care as appropriate.
– Dietary or Pastoral Care Departments are
automatically referred.
Conflict / Concerns
• Do you have any particular concerns or fears
about your stay in the hospital?
– Address those fears / concerns that you are able
to.

– SCRIPT: “Our chaplains are also here to help


address many of these concerns. Would you like
me to expedite a visit from one of the chaplains?”

– Generates an automatic referral to pastoral care.


Treatment Plan
• Does the patient appear to be coping well
and have adequate social / emotional /
spiritual support?
– Free-text assessed needs.
– Call chaplain on duty (*072) if there is an
emergent need for pastoral support.
– Non-emergent needs (“no” answers) generate
an automatic referral to pastoral care.
Final Thoughts
• If questioned on the role of pastoral care and
chaplains refer the patient / family to facility
guides. Or, contact pastoral care for
assistance.
Final Thoughts
• Referrals to pastoral care generated by the
FACT assessment will be completed in 24
hours. A chaplain will visit to further assess
ongoing issues and pastoral care needs.
• Urgent pastoral care needs (emergency
sacraments, family crises, death / dying issues)
should be referred to the chaplain on duty for
immediate response.
Spirituality and Health
Positive and Negative Religious Coping
• Positive Coping: Patients showed less psychological
distress
- seeking control through a partnership with God
or Higher Power in problem-solving
- asking God’s forgiveness and trying to forgive
others
- finding strength and comfort from one’s spiritual
beliefs
- finding support from spiritual / religious
community
Positive and Negative Religious Coping
• Negative Coping: Patients have more depression,
poorer quality of life and callousness towards
others
- seeing the crisis as punishment from God
- excessive guilt
- absolute belief in prayer and cure; inability to
resolve anger when cure does not occur
- refusal of indicated medical treatment
Spiritual Coping
• Hope: for cure, for healing, for finishing
important goals, for a peaceful death
• Sense of control
• Acceptance of situation
• Strength to deal with situation
• Meaning and Purpose: in life in midst of
suffering
Spiritual Care
• Practice of compassionate presence
• Listening to patient’s fears, hopes, pain, dreams
• Obtaining a spiritual history
• Attentiveness to all dimensions of the patient and
patient’s family: body, mind and spirit
• Incorporation of spiritual practices as appropriate
• Chaplains as members of the interdisciplinary
healthcare team
Spiritual History

F Faith, Belief, Meaning


I Importance and Influence
C Community
A Address

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