Speeds Needs Assement (Essay Sample)

Spiritual Needs Assessment
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Spiritual Needs Assessment
Summary of the assessment findings
The spiritual needs assessment was conducted on a 67-year-old female patient suffering from ovarian cancer. A total of 8 questions were asked, see Appendix 1. The findings are as follows: the cancer patient pointed out that spiritual support provided to her is what really provides her with strength and hope in spite of her terminal disease. This person uses prayer quite often since she wants to draw close to God as her end in this world is near. She stated that she prays before going to bed. The patient desires spiritual/religious support that involves a pastor coming to talk with her every 2 days, giving her encouragement and reason not to fear death or worry about afterlife. She also pointed out that she wanted the pastor to pray for her so that she can go to a good place after dying.
She expresses her spirituality by going to church, praying to and believing in God; she is a devout Catholic. The patient believes that suffering is a punishment from God as a consequence of one’s sin. Her spiritual goals are to be saved by Jesus Christ – to be born again – and ultimately go to heaven upon dying. To this patient, dying really means starting a new life albeit in a new place – heaven or hell. She believes that there is heaven and hell and one will go to either of this spiritual destinations depending on how they lived their life on earth. She keeps going day after day by spending time with friends and people with cancer and cancer survivors who make her understand that she is actually not the only person with this disease.
Discoveries made about the individual
The significant discoveries that I made about the cancer patient I assessed are that spiritual needs are very important to her and she needs pastoral care. This cancer patient also does not have religious struggle. Oncologists need to use a patient-centered approach to address the spiritual concerns of this patient. In essence, the patient is a religious individual. Although she practices religion, she has spiritual needs that should be met.
What went well
What went well during the assessment is that the patient was very cooperative and responded to each question satisfactorily. Perhaps this is because she was comfortable with each of the 8 open-ended questions asked in the questionnaire.
What would be done differently in future
Although the assessment to a great extent went well, the questionnaire did not encompass several key questions which could have helped to gain a deeper understanding of the patient’s spiritual needs. As such, what I would do differently in future is that I would include more pertinent questions such as those pertaining to the patient’s philosophy of life; the role, if any, that church/mosque/synagogue plays in the life of the patient; how the patient’s faith helps him/her in coping with disease. In addition, a future Spiritual Needs Assessment should contain questions that pertain to what helps the patient in getting through the healthcare experience, and the way that disease has affected both the patient and her/his family.
Barriers or challenges
This spiritual needs assessment had several challenges or barriers that served to inhibit my ability to complete the assessment tool. The tool had an inherent weakness; it did not effectively organize the questions around the topics of personal spiritually, organized religion, hope, as well as effects on medical care and end-of-life issues. In the future, I would address this challenge by changing my assessment and use a mnemonic device for instance HOPE. This HOPE device basically helps in organizing questions on the themes of Hope, Organized religion, Personal spirituality and practices of the patient, as well as Effects on medical care and end-of-life issues (Joint Commission, 2005). The other challenge is that I was not prepared or trained to observe particular indicators which might actually be indication of a need for a further assessment. Some of these indicators include depression, anger, resentment, and crying. This challenge will be addressed in future through training to be able to observe such indicators.
Spiritual experience I have with the patient
The Spiritual Needs Assessment tool was useful in allowing me to better meet the needs the cancer patient. It helped in determining how the spiritual outlook of the patient can affect her treatment, care, as well as services. The assessment also helped in determining whether or not further in-depth assessments are actually needed. In essence, the Spiritual Assessment tool as used with the 67-year-old cancer patient was imperative in identifying the needs of the patient, resources, as well as potential outcomes with regard to spirituality and in determining apt actions needed to address those issues. Larson (2003) pointed out that the people who assess the spirituality of a patient need to be carefu...