Spiritual Needs Assessment

PART 1: INTERVIEW 

Spirituality particularly in nursing can be delineated as anything that gives the definitive meaning and purpose of the life of an individual; which tends to invite certain ways of living within the society with regard to relating with others and with oneself (Koenig, 2007). There are several themes that are associated with the spiritual conception – they include anticipation, devotion, purpose, sense of peace, transcendence and connectedness with other members of the society.  In nursing, religion and spirituality are regarded as two distinct components that derive the sense of human experiences which include illness and other health concerns. Precisely, spirituality tends to be more personal than religiousness as it defines personal perception regarding the wellbeing of the individual (Koenig, 2007). On the other hand, religiousness of an individual encompasses the traditions and beliefs which derive the institutional belonging. Thus, it is noteworthy that spirituality in healthcare tends to affect the mortality, coping with illness, and the recovery of the patient. Studies in the contemporary healthcare sector assert that patients who exhibit adherence to spiritual practices tend to live longer (Koenig, 2007). This can be explained by the fact that spirituality plays a significant role in the patient’s capability in coping up with illness thus promoting fast recovery.    

 

QUESTIONS    

Nurse: Hello. Thank you so much for sparing your time to participate in this interview. Could you please tell me who or what is your source of strength and hope?

Patient:  to start with, I can say that for every situation that requires me to be strong and hope for the good, God is my comforter. I believe that God wants me to recognize that he is powerful and to believe that he can enchain me from problem. So I can say that God is my strength and hope.

Nurse: Okay, does that mean that you use prayers in your life?

Patient: Yes, I believe in prayers than anything else that can relieve you from the troubles of life. This is the reason why I pray regularly not only asking for help but rather to thank God for life

Nurse: Apart from praying, how else do you express your spirituality?    

Patient: The other way that I express my spirituality is how I relate with others for instance, while in hospital I typically console by fellow patients and try to counsel them on the need to pray and have faith that God will deliver them from the illness.

Nurse:  how would you describe your philosophy of life?  

Patient: According to me, life is made up of ups and downs which are plans of the sole creator, God. Therefore, in times of falling, God is subjecting you into a temptation in order to gauge your faith in him. Therefore, the only way you can be delivered from the temptation is by praying for strength from God. However, it is advisable that one should pray in all times of life regardless of whether it is the time of falling or going up.

Nurse: What type of spiritual/religious support do you desire?     

Patient: The type of spiritual support that I desire is spiritual faith to help me continue believing in the power of God towards everything that troubles me. With faith, one can be delivered from every pain in life provided that he or she believes.   

 

PART 2: ANALYSIS

The interview hosted 20 respondents equally represented in terms of gender (10 male, 10 females). The age of the respondents ranged from 45 – 55 years where 6 were Christians, 5 Atheists, 5 Muslims, and 4 Jews. In this case, the major objective was to assess the diversity of spirituality and how it correlates with coping with illness and medication. Spirituality plays a significant role to the patient’s perception of the illness. It is factual that there can be situation when cure is impossible but healing is possible (Koenig, 2007). Thus, spirituality determines the peace and acceptance of the illness thus bringing the healing though not the cure. For the spiritual patients, they tend to adhere closer to the beliefs regarding the current state of the person. The other contemplation that can be applied in assessing the correlation between the illness and spirituality is based on the fact that a disease subjects an individual into a mental pain which translates to spiritual suffering. Thus, patients end up asking questions that brings them closer to their spiritual beliefs towards their inquisitiveness to heal (Koenig, 2007). This describes what went right in my research as the interviewees conformed to the hypothesis of the correlation between spirituality and healing.

What I will do differently for my interview in future is based on the fact that people appear to be diverting away from spirituality as the society continue to be muddled up by numerous traditions and beliefs. Therefore, spiritual assessment will not consider diversity as a variable but rather personal belief as the basis of spirituality. This means that I will out source religiousness from the variables that I will consider for future interviewees.

The challenges and barriers that inhibited the ability to assess the topic effectively include language barrier, hostility of some religions regarding the assessment of their beliefs by a non-member, and unwillingness to answer some questions. Therefore, in order to address these challenges in future, I will plan effectively particularly on selecting the participants of the interview. I will first conduct the survey before settling on the participants of the interview.

The spiritual experience I had with one of the patients is that illness pain is one of the temptations that God subjects His people to and the healing is the success and triumph from the temptation. This helps me meet relate with the patients by first considering their spirituality and insisting that medication is one of the ways that God helps His people attain healing.

It is true that illness and stress amplify the spirituality of the patient and tends to bring him or her closer to God. As aforementioned, disease pain leads to mental and spiritual pain which forces the patient to reflect back to what he or she believes. For instance, a Christian believes that illness is the temptation that God’s subjects a patient to. Therefore, praying acts as a weapon towards overcoming the temptation. This helps the patient believe in healing which is significant in disease curing.

Reference

Koenig, H. G. (2007). Spirituality in patient care: Why, how, when, and what. Philadelphia: Templeton Foundation Press.