Spiritual Patient Assessment

The person I assessed is a former RN who presented evidence of trauma, loss, and addictive symptoms. The RN is a 43 years old female who lost her licensure due to alcohol and opioid abuse and became addicted in the process. She has meandered through several losses in the course of her life. One of her most painful losses was the loss of her five-month-old son, which manifested her depressive symptoms and subjected her to anxiety. She is trying to keep herself from the drugs and has maintained a clean state for the past five years but deals with the daily struggle of being sober. She also identifies to be very sensitive due to the several traumas that she experienced during her childhood from her parents. The parents considered her poor and regarded everything she did as wrong. Based on the spiritual evaluation, she views herself as very religious but has no religious affiliation. The importance of person-centered care is evident when working with this individual. This person has been through a lot of trauma and loss, which has led to substance abuse and mental health issues. She is now in recovery and working on healing herself. She is highly sensitive and needs to be treated with care and compassion. She views herself as a spiritual person, so it is important to respect her beliefs and support her recovery journey. 

Creating a ‘Sensitive’ Person-Centered Environment for the Person Assessed Based on Lessons Learnt About Spiritual Assessment and the RELM Assessment

Client’s Values, Preferences, and Expressed Needs

Treatment of clients based on their values, preferences, and needs are among the strategies to create a sensitive patient-centered environment for the patient in admission to a facility. In the promotion of the objective, practitioners and nurses need to be respectful of the client’s spiritual beliefs and practices and support her recovery journey (Fleishman et al., 2019). From the case scenario of the patient assessed, the patient is religious but does not subscribe to any religious affiliation. The nurse in this context will therefore provide a sensitive environment with respect to the patient’s religious beliefs. The assessment result also affirms that the patient has been through lots of trauma for example through the loss of her son and from the mistreatment from her parents which affirms that the patient has a need for mental support. The nurse would also need to meet the mental support need of the patient by actively listening to her and the provision of resources such as medication. Active listening reinstates the calmness and relaxation of the patient (Fleishman et al., 2019). 

Coordination and Integration of Care

According to Fleishman et al. (2019), coordination and integrative care are other strategies effective in creating a sensitive person-centered environment for the client. Coordinated and integrated care ensures that individuals have access to the resources needed such as mental health services and support groups (Fleishman et al., 2019). Based on spiritual assessment results from the client assessed, she has been an alcohol and opioid addict which then justifies a mental health issue. Integrated care in this context involves counseling the patient to reinstate mental stability. The coordination and integration would also involve the provision of mental health services such as counseling reduction of mental health triggers like depression and anxiety which are all obtained through sadness. The nurse would also improve coordination through trauma-informed care to ensure that the client is updated on her condition.   

Information-Giving Related to Status, Progress, and Prognosis

Based on the REALM evaluation and the clinical assessment results, providing information about their status, progress, and prognosis in a way that is respectful and non-judgmental-judgmental is another strategy that can be used in creating a sensitive person-centered environment for a client (Fleishman et al., 2019). Based on the spiritual assessment results, the patient has had a lot of issues and therefore faces the problem of opening up about her problems and issues. In regard to the patient’s issue, the nurse, therefore, has a need for information about her health. The practitioner would satisfy the need of the patient by ensuring that the patient has enough information about herself through sharing information about her health and her progress based on the occasional mental assessment as she is admitted within the facility.

Communication

Communication is another strategy that can be used in creating a sensitive person-centered environment. The review of the patient’s scenario reveals that the patient has been through several problems and has some mental problems. The patient there has need to be listened to and the only way to achieve the objective is proper communication between the nurse and the patient (Fleishman et al., 2019). The nurse would also facilitate communication with the patient by allowing the patient to have a decision about her health. The accordance of interactive communication ill facilitates the healing journey from her mental issues.

Physical Comfort

From the assessment results of the patient, the patient needs physical support. The provision of physical support is an effective strategy for creating a sensitive patient-centered environment. The nurse would create physical comfort by ensuring that the patient is clean and has a private space to heal. The nurse would also promote physical support through access to the needed resources such as pillows, blankets, and water (Fleishman et al., 2019). The nurse would also ensure that the patient has a space by delegating a separate room for meditation.

Emotional Support

Emotional deficiency is one of the manifested symptoms based on the assent of the patient. Provision of emotional support would involve the nurse being non-judgmental-judgmental, accepting, and understanding of the person’s situation. Being nonjudgmental means that the nurse actively listens to the patient’s concerns. Active listening initiates empathetic feelings and assures the patient that her condition is listened to (Fleishman et al., 2019).

Involvement of Family and Friends

The involvement of family and friends, the nurse would involve the patient’s family and friends in the patient’s care as much as possible in order to achieve the objective of creating person-centered care. The REALM assessment reveals that the patient needs support. The nurse will therefore promote the objective by trying to understand the patient’s family and friendship history and use the patient’s story to understand better how to care for them (Fleishman et al., 2019). The involvement of the family creates a harmonical and sensitive patient-centered environment.

Transition, Continuity, and Access to Needed Care

The nurse would create a sensitive person-centered environment by ensuring that the person had a smooth transition into care, continuity of care, and access to needed care.

Transition: In the promotion of a healthy transition, the nurse would promote the initiative by informing the patient of the potential stress associated with a change in environment, such as being admitted to the hospital. The patient needs to be informed about what to expect during their stay, such as the length of their stay, what type of care they will receive, and what kind of support will be available to them (Vincensi, 2019). Creating awareness makes the patient aware of any case of transition.

Continuity: The REALM assessment tools affirm that practitioners must maintain continuity of care for the person assessed to create a sensitive person-centered environment. This means that the nurse should keep the person informed about their care plan and any changes that may be made (Vincensi, 2019). It also ensures that the patient has access to the resources they need to support their recovery.

Access to needed care: The partitioner can create a sensitive patient-centered environment through the promotion of access to the care by ensuring that the person has access to the resources they need to support their recovery, such as information about their condition, support groups, and counseling services (Vincensi, 2019).

Reflection In Regard to My Workplace

I t would be difficult to provide person-centered care to this person in the workplace because of the stigma still attached to mental health and addiction. It would be difficult because of the lack of education and understanding regarding mental health and addiction. Some changes that would need to take place to provide person-centered care for this person are better education and understanding regarding mental health and addiction (Vincensi, 2019). There also needs to be more sensitivity and compassion when it comes to this population of people.

Nurse Utilization of Client Education as a mode of promotion of Person-Centered Care for the patient

A nurse could utilize client education to support person-centered care for this client by providing information on the importance of self-care, stress management, and relaxation techniques. According to SAMHSA (2014), the nurse could also provide information on the importance of staying connected with friends and family and other sources of social support. Additionally, the nurse could provide information on the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle, including a nutritious diet and regular exercise.

Conclusion

Patient-Centered care forms one of the very critical elements within clinical settings. Patient-centered care is the consideration of a patient’s spiritual needs and preferences. The centered mode f treatment effectively alleviates patients with depressive and mental conditions. Treatment based on the patient’s preferences and values, adequate patient coordination, effective communication, physical and emotional support, and patient participation in transitions are some tactics that can be utilized to improve person-centered care in a healthcare setting.

References

Fleishman, J., Kamsky, H., & Sundborg, S. (2019, May). Trauma-Informed Nursing Practice. Ojin.nursingworld.org. https://ojin.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/TableofContents/Vol-24-2019/No2-May-2019/Trauma-Informed-Nursing-Practice.html

SAMHSA. (2014). SAMHSA’s Concept of Trauma and Guidance for a Trauma-Informed Approach Prepared by SAMHSA’s Trauma and Justice Strategic Initiative. https://ncsacw.acf.hhs.gov/userfiles/files/SAMHSA_Trauma.pdf

Vincensi, B. (2019). Interconnections: Spirituality, Spiritual Care, and Patient-Centered Care. Asia-Pacific Journal of Oncology Nursing, 6(2), 104. https://doi.org/10.4103/apjon.apjon_48_18