Critical Analysis On Critical Care Nursing

This article can be used as a way to further support my argument about how most patients don’t utilize all of the benefits that hospice has to offer. There are some cases where people choose not to receive spiritual support due to

On reading this article and identifying the study, there was a clear insight on how death and dying, and even improved health, impacted those nurses (Conte, 2014). Nurses, who worked closely with their patients, through the perils and suffering, culminating of death and losses, had grief not readily explored to enable that comfort zone (Conte, 2014).

One of the most difficult yet, pivotal times in a person 's’ life is when they are reaching the end of their life’s journey. A common coping mechanism utilized in the current hospice care system is spiritual care. However, when patients and their families hear the word “spirituality” they often think this type of care focuses exclusively on religious affiliations. While a person’s religious views greatly influence one’s spirituality, many researchers agree a person’s spirituality can take on a variety forms and meanings. For example, some people view their spirituality in a religious form, while others view their spirituality in a more general and non-religious form, which can make a hospice social worker, or chaplain’s job challenging at times. Because the current elderly society is rapidly growing in numbers, it is critical that further research is concentrated on the training and social work curriculum of spiritual care, so hospice social workers can become more culturally and spiritually competent, and ultimately possess the proper skills to adequately offer spiritual assistance as an option to ease the death, dying and grieving process for patients and their families.

Death is inevitable. It is one of the only certainties in life. Regardless, people are often uncomfortable discussing death. Nyatanga (2016) posits that the idea of no longer existing increases anxiety and emotional distress in relation to one’s mortality. Because of the difficulty in level of care for end-of-life patients, the patient and the family often need professional assistance for physical and emotional care. Many family caregivers are not professionally trained in medicine, and this is where hospice comes into play. Hospice aims to meet the holistic needs of both the patient and the patient’s family through treatment plans, education, and advocacy. There is a duality of care to the treatment provided by hospice staff in that they do not attempt to separate the patient’s care from the family’s care. Leming and Dickinson (2011) support that hospice, unlike other clinical fields, focuses on the patient and the family together instead of seeing the patient independent of the family. Many times in hospitals, the medical team focuses solely on the goal of returning the patient back to health in order for them to return to their normal lives. They do not take into account the psychological and spiritual components of the patient’s journey and the journey that the family must take as well. For treatment of the patient, Leming and Dickinson agree that hospice does not attempt to cure patients, and instead concentrates solely

The Faith, Importance and influence, Community, and Address in Care (FICA) Spiritual History Tool provides a way for “the clinician to efficiently integrate open-ended questions into a standard medical history and can be used by any health care professional” (Borneman, Ferrell, & Puchalski, 2010). The FICA tool explores the presence of faith, the importance of spirituality, the influence a person’s spirituality has on their health care decisions, the involvement in a spiritual community, and the interventions to address spiritual needs (Borneman et al., 2010).

The American Association of Critical-Care Nursing (AACN) is the largest nursing organization of a non-profit character in the world. It represents 500,000 nurses and their interests. The responsibility of these nurses is to provide health care services to the critically and acutely ill patients. Thus, the duty of the AACN organization is to give its members all the possible resources and knowledge, so that they could help critically ill clients become healthier. Therefore, I would like to join the AACN organization. To become a member of this particular organization I need to learn more about it by researching some questions.

Compassionate Care: An Inspirational Guide for Caregivers of The Seriously Il,l deals with an individual’s “journey to death” in such a way that it becomes a relatively uncomplicated task to learn to become an effective and lasting Spiritual Care

Through time, there has always been a question on the idea of another supernatural being, a greater power, or a God. People have grown up and been taught certain beliefs, and some have developed their own beliefs based on this idea of a higher power. There are then those who don’t believe in any such thing; they believe in the facts presented to them. As a whole, the specifics of this idea vary, and as a nurse, understanding of this must be achieved to successfully care for a patient. Hospitals are already known to have a depressing effect on patients, then added onto that are patients who are suffering from acute or terminal illnesses. Their pain in many ways, gets passed on to the nurses who have gotten close with them through the care,

Caring for patients at the end of life is a challenging task that requires not only the consideration of the individual as a whole but also an understanding of the

Spiritual care can significantly improve the physical and mental health of nursing home residents. Elderly people are going through a period of life that is set apart by the loss of ability, wellbeing, freedom, and companions. Religious and spiritual individuals regularly utilize their faith and beliefs to adapt to these losses, thus it is critical to keep on providing religious services for seniors who need them. Unfortunately after admitting to the nursing homes, the spiritual and religious needs of residents are often overlooked. (BRIA Health Services, 2016). The Joint Commission- a non-profit organization evaluating the healthcare organizations for quality states, "Patients have a fundamental right to considerate care that safeguards their personal dignity and respects their cultural, psychosocial, and spiritual values" (JCAHO, 2009). Tending to the emotional and spiritual needs of patients, is considered to be a priority quality improvement in healthcare. A nursing home chaplain can meet the religious and spiritual needs of residents, residents’ families, administration, and employees. The purpose of this paper is to provide an executive summary of a project that is creating a position of nursing chaplain, to the Board for approval of funding of the project.

Spirituality is considered one of the components of health and wellness, and is a contributory factor in the delivery of holistic care (O’Shea, Wallace, Griffin, & Fitzpatrick, 2011). It only makes sense for us nurses to study and research spirituality since the nursing profession is committed to holistic development, which includes the spiritual dimension of life. However, elements such as time constraints, short staffing, insufficient formal education related to spiritual assessment and confusion between spirituality and religion have led to spirituality becoming a disregarded component of care (O’Shea et al., 2011). Adolescence is a crucial time in the development of a person’s spiritual path (Benson & Roehlkepartain, 2008). Findings showed that most adolescents hold spiritual or religious beliefs already and choose to draw on them when experiencing life-changing events. Despite this information, healthcare professionals overlook the spiritual needs of adolescents (Neuman, 2011).

For health care providers to deliver the best holistic care that patients deserve, a thorough spiritual assessment must be included during their care. With more research showing a relationship between supporting a patient’s spirituality with their health and ability to cope with illness, it is now a requirement of organizations to include a spiritual assessment to maintain accreditation with The Joint Commission. The minimum required of a spiritual assessment by The Joint Commission is to determine the patient’s religion and

In my view, spiritual care means the patient needs care, support and treatment as a whole person that including spiritual or religious belief which help them to cope with illness and heal emotionally as well as physically. Spiritual care helps nurses to understand patients’ spiritual needs and provide care with comfort, hope, goodness and through their religious practices.

Spirituality is a delicate topic, and some may not be open to talking about their beliefs. Spirituality is generally understood to be an essential aspect of being human (Lyndo-Lam, 2012). Assessing the spiritual needs of patients is a key component in the nursing process. A compassionate and thoughtful nurse can make a patient feel more secure, making it easier for him to express his spirituality. The participation of both patient and health care provider is vital in promoting spiritual health. The main focus of a spiritual assessment is to gather information regarding the patient’s spiritual needs in order incorporate them into the plan of care, so as to treat

Nurses that listen to their patients, not only notice that they are physically hurt, but they can also notice their emotional wounds. The empathy of knowing that the patient is emotionally hurt is part of the spirituality connection. Therefore, they might need comfort. O’Brien (2001) states that, “ No other profession provides the opportunity to touch and be touched by the human spirit as does the practice of nursing. It is this intimacy that calls us to reverence: reverence for God as our creator and Lord…” (pg.110). Nurses have the privilege to connect with people in ways that no other profession may be able to provide. Since nurses are patients advocate, our duty is to connect them with their spiritual beliefs and