Forum #6 Assignment Instructions The Joint Commission (JCAHO) requires that organization include a spiritual assessment as part of the patient assessment. They do not specify what must be asked, but they suggest following questions might be directed to the patient or his/her family:
- Who or what provides the patient with strength and hope?
- Does the patient use prayer in their life?
- How does the patient express their spirituality?
- How would the patient describe their philosophy of life?
- What type of spiritual/religious support does the patient desire?
- What is the name of the patient’s clergy, ministers, chaplains, pastor, rabbi?
- What does suffering mean to the patient?
- What does dying mean to the patient?
- What are the patient’s spiritual goals?
- Is there a role of church/synagogue in the patient’s life?
- How does your faith help the patient cope with illness?
- How does the patient keep going day after day?
- What helps the patient get through this health care experience?
- How has illness affected the patient and his/her family?
- How is a spiritual assessment routinely done on your unit?
- What policies do you have to support spiritual care
- What are the barriers or ethical issues surrounding spiritual care in your practice area?
- Give an example of a time when you felt that you or your unit did a really good job or a really bad job of supporting a patient’s spiritual needs?
- What changes, if any, do you feel are needed within your institution to better promote spiritual care?
- No APA needed this week since this is a reflection.
- This paper will be approximately 2 pages in length
Module 6: Spirituality and Healing
1. Describe spirituality (c1) 2. Understand the nurse’s role in providing spiritual care (c5, 6) 3. Describe how spiritual care contributes to patient outcomes(c7)Module 6: Readings
- Fountain chapters 24, 25, & 27
- Joint Commission Evaluating your spiritual assessment process PDF
