Spiritual Assessment And Spiritual Care

Course overview

Spiritual care is an important and necessary part of appropriate patient care, yet many health care professionals feel ill equipped to provide it to their clients. When people experience a spiritual crisis and need spiritual care, they may choose to discuss their concerns only if they have been shown respect, understanding, and appreciation by the person(s) caring for them. Thus, understanding spirituality and its impact on well-being is one way to demonstrate respect and appreciation and helps health care practitioners provide compassionate and appropriate spiritual care. The outcome of this course is for the learner to describe the elements of spiritual care and a spiritual assessment, state the importance of providing this aspect of care, and identify strategies that can ensure a successful spiritual assessment. Several spiritual assessment models are discussed, and the various types of alterations in spiritual integrity are explained. Finally, considerations for the appropriate planning, implementation, and evaluation of spiritual care are examined.