Answer

Spiritual Care for Patients

Spiritual needs are essential to an individual at all times. However, spirituality is a complex concept with different meanings for different people. Spiritual care is vital in nursing since attending to a patient’s spiritual needs may improve their health outcome (Timmins & Caldeira, 2017). However, satisfying the patients’ spiritual needs is one of the most significant challenges for nurses, primarily when their worldviews differ. As a professional nurse, my most significant strength is putting aside my spiritual values and not trying to compare them with those of my patients. I have learned that separating my personal beliefs from those of my patients helps me focus on the patient’s immediate needs.

As a nurse, providing quality care is my paramount goal. One of my strengths lies in my personal and professional attributes (Veloza-Gómez et., al 2017). My values make me kind, compassionate, understanding, and respectful to my patients. With these values, I can listen and understand my patients with an open mind even when our worldviews differ. My professional attributes make me competent in what I do. These attributes come in handy when I am explaining things to patients. Additionally, trust and honor ensure an effective therapeutic relationship with my patients as they build truth and give hope.

Also among my strength is my deep understanding of the importance of spiritual care to patients. Spiritual care plays a vital role in the holistic model of bringing spiritual health and mental and physical health to the body (Booth & Kaylor, 2018). Additionally, having respect for the diverse background is something I take as a strength. Over the years, I have developed increased respect for individuals with backgrounds different from mine. This has helped me in avoiding preconceived notions, mostly about the patients that I serve.

As a professional nurse, I try my best to offer pastoral care to my patients. Pastoral care describes the interventions carried out by religious ministers to meet others’ spiritual needs (Best et., al 2020). As a nurse, I make pastoral care referrals by contacting sacred ministers of the patient’s acquaintance.  I facilitate pastoral care by preparing a place close to the patient for the minister to sit and provide privacy.

My weaknesses in offering spiritual care would be the lack of knowledge of all the different religions. With the spiritual being so diverse, I lack the knowledge of norms and practices of other religions. With the help of colleagues who have different religious backgrounds, I can get their take on different situations. With patients from different religions, one of my weaknesses is fear. Without knowing the patient’s faith, I fear intruding on the patient’s privacy. My greatest fear is getting into a situation that I cannot handle. Lack of education and training on spirituality is a weakness in providing spiritual care (Taylor et., al 2017). More training should be given to pre- and post-registered nurses on spiritual care.

Every patient has a desire to play a role in making decisions about their treatment plans. However, in difficult situations, demographic factors such as age and educational level, the patient’s participation may be minimal (Brom et., al 2017). If I were the patient in such a situation, I would hopefully have a medical power of attorney that would respect my wishes. I would want my physician and caregivers to do what is best in their position to provide the necessary and appropriate care.

In summary, providing spiritual care to patients is a challenge given the different worldviews. To sustain the spiritual needs of patients, nurses need to form trust and sympathy with the patients. Besides, a desirable environment needs to be provided and the patient’s dignity and beliefs respected.