Identification of Patients' Spiritual Needs Using a Spiritual Health Assessment Tool

Patients enter health care facilities to continue their recovery after a medical or surgical crises has disrupted their lives. Nurses are skilled in the delivery of comprehensive care that recognizes that the human body has just overcome the insult of injury, illness, and trauma and is in the process of gradual healing. Because nurses are a part of patients’ transition from the acute care setting to the rehabilitation environment, they witness the emotional, physical, and spiritual difficulties that patients encounter. Patients must undergo assessments by registered nurses. Nurses conduct physical and psychosocial assessments during admissions to health care facilities. The roles of nurses in clinical practice are teacher, leader, communicator, counselor, coach, advocate, and caregiver. Patients rely upon nurses to provide support and education to them during their journey toward states of optimal wellness. Therefore, nurses are an ideal population to assess spiritual health. Patients who express having a faith or belief system within health care environments, should be provided support. The value and necessity of spiritual health assessment was explored on an inpatient unit providing medical and palliative care to patients. Patients and nurses were provided education on the historical requirements of spiritual health assessments being completed and documented within patients’ medical records by the Joint Commission. The American Nurses Association and American Association of Colleges of Nursing within the Essentials of Baccalaureate Education, both support spiritual care being a part of patients’ assessments and care received while within health care settings. Two spiritual assessment tools, each with 5-items, were evaluated by nursing staff and patients; Spiritual Assessment Tool 1 used language that was unaffiliated with religion, nor a belief in God and Spiritual Assessment Tool 2 used language affiliated with faith and belief in God. The reliability statistics for Spiritual Assessment Tool 1 had a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.633 and Spiritual Assessment Tool 2 had a Cronbach alpha of 0.803.
Keywords: spiritual health assessments, patients, nurses