Abstract
In a quest to spiritually assess a patient with severe illness, a series of questions were asked of her. They were as follows (The Joint Commission, 2014):
- Who or what provides you with strength and hope?
- What does suffering mean to you?
- What does dying mean you?
- What do you suppose happens to the spirit after a person dies?
- How does your faith help to cope with being sick?
- What has helped you get through stressful health care experiences?
- Do you use prayer in your life?
- Do you have any spiritual goals? If so, what are they?
- Is there anything that you are afraid of? If so, how do you deal with it?
- God provides me with strength and hope.
- Suffering means not being able to breathe.
- Dying means finality. Earthly finality meaning that you will be going from what you know to what you don’t know.
- The spirit transitions to another place, meaning that the spirit goes from the known to the unknown. I believe there is a heaven and hell and such an assigned place may be given after judgment. The judgment is issued by God.
- My faith helps me because I know that there is light at the end of the tunnel. If I follow the principles of God then everything will work out fine.
- My faith in God has helped me get through previous health care experiences.
- Yes, I use prayer every day. Sometimes I pray when there is no reason at all (no problems or issues), I pray for my students, I can just be talking to God about my daily courses in life, or my desires.
- My spiritual goals are always to just follow the laws of God. The most difficult law is always love people. The easiest law to follow is the law requiring not killing anyone.
- I am afraid of failure. It is a feeling that is a regular constant thing. I have so many responsibilities. I can reference scriptures in the Bible that can help me keep the fear from consuming me or not finishing daily tasks or long term objectives.
A brief summary of the assessment findings was written following the short interview. The summary will address the many likely questions that would arise from this meeting. This allows for the understanding of significant discoveries. It will also explain any barriers or challenges that might have come up and the overall spiritual experience that took place between the patient and the interviewer.
A 42 year old patient was interviewed for the purpose of determining the nature of her spiritual needs and whether or not they are being met. The interview served an assessment with the intent that she would either achieve (or has previously achieved) a healthy spiritual state of mind. With regard to her health which imposes emotional and physical stress, her doctor has diagnosed her with emphysema and she alopecia. The two conditions have not been confirmed as related and they both arrived at different times in her life. Understandably, she spoke recently about feeling depressed at times, but did not share her feelings of depression with her doctor. She explained the refusal to accept another prescription as one might be recommended for the depression. Implementation of prayer, Bible study and her faith are her weapons of choice. This This patient asked 9 questions pertaining to spirituality while reminded that her personal information would be kept confidential. As the person administering the assessment, questions were asked with no tone of bias, no claim to follow any particular faith and no imposition of personal views onto the patient (Joint Commission, 2005). It was explained that we would discuss her answers with no critical judgment imposed.
This patient is firmly grounded in her spiritual beliefs. She made absolutely no mention of Jesus Christ or any other Biblically historical figures. The only deity or life force she mentioned from the very first question was God. From the assessment, it was determined that there are three main points which guide her daily instinctive behaviors. The first is that God is her savior. Secondly, obeying his laws are all that she needs to follow. Finally, talking to God is essential to remaining spiritually cleansed and constantly in touch with Him. The very first answer for example, was that God provides her strength and hope. She didn’t mention going to church or claim association with any particular denomination or practice like Christianity or Catholicism.
God’s laws were not elaborated during the discussion. She did care to mention that the most difficult law to obey is to love all people. She explained that there are so many hateful and hurtful people in this world that need forgiveness. Forgiveness requires love and it is hard to offer in light of terrible things that people do. When asked for an example, she referred to people such as terrorists, pedophiles or even resentful family members. The easiest law to follow is the one that forbids murder. The patient explained that her faith in God would never allow her to give someone the power to make her kill another human being. In humor, she said that killing roaches and other common pests are justifiably fine.
This patient prefers to talk to God openly as though He is another person sitting beside her. She might do it while driving, bathing or any other time of day. This is what keeps her connected, in-tune with his voice and on a steady path. From the discussion it was apparent that talking in general and praying (to God) are synonymous. She believes that God responds to her and places messages or directions in her spirit to which she is obedient. If a voice in her head or heart says to travel down Colonial Drive instead of Silver Star Rd., then she will do exactly that. This is her approach to serious decisions as well. Before acting, she seeks the voice of God through conversations which she says are her prayers. What made the discussion flow so nicely was a willingness and great ability to share her thoughts. Although there were no inhibiting factors during the assessment, the discussion might have carried on longer if her children were not tugging her shirt to make food.
In conclusion, the spiritual experience with this patient was quite profound. She doesn’t allow any religion to define her relationship with God. I was able to forgive myself for not worshipping statues of Biblical figures. With no apology, Jesus name didn’t come up. God’s wisdom comes from being clad in His love which follows obedience to His laws.
References
The Joint Commission. (2014). Spiritual assessment. Retrieved from http://www.jointcommission.org/standards_information/jcfaqdetails.aspx?StandardsFaqId=290&ProgramId=1
The Joint Commission. (2005). Evaluating your spiritual assessment process. Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, 3(2), 6-7. Retrieved from http://www.pastoralreport.com/archives/spiritual.pdf
