PHI 413 Benchmark – Patient’s Spiritual Needs Case Analysis

Sample Answer

Health care professionals encounter patients and families with differing knowledge and perceptions of sickness, health, and well-being. These differences stem from diverse cultural and religious beliefs as well as growing in environments with varying values and lifestyles.

James’s case study illustrates how religious beliefs inform people’s health decisions. As health care providers continue implementing ethical practices, such beliefs should be respected as medical ethics necessitates. For effective decision-making and beneficial patient outcomes, health care professionals should embrace collaboration as the spine of patient-centered care.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the case study while reflecting on the patient’s spiritual needs. Focus areas include patient autonomy, the Christian perspective, spiritual needs assessment, and accountability.

Decision-Making and Principle of Autonomy

Respect for autonomy is among the dominant ethical principles that health care providers should observe when treating individuals and groups. Generally, autonomy is demonstrated when care providers recognize patients’ rights to make informed decisions about their medical care. This implies that the physician cannot make decisions on the patient’s behalf without seeking consent or informed agreement before commencing the treatment process.

As demonstrated in the case study, Dr Wilson’s treatment recommendations contradict James’s parents’ wishes. As white (2020) mentioned, patients, surrogates, and health care proxies have the right to refuse treatments despite going against accepted medical advice. Religious beliefs, as the case demonstrates, are among the factors that usually restrict the use of regular medical procedures.

Due to the profound implications of treatment refusal, Dr. Wilson should help the family understand the need for dialysis and the dangers of faith healing. In health practice, informed decision-making is achieved when patients and their families have adequate knowledge regarding health conditions, appropriate treatment options, and the potential benefits and drawbacks of the available options.

This implies that Dr. Wilson should actively engage the parents since they are making decisions on James’s behalf. Ensuring that the parents understand all the options and health implications is the foundation of collaborative decision-making.

On the other hand, James’s father (Mike) can refuse the recommended treatment and seek faith healing as provided under the principle of autonomy. However, he should collaborate with the physician to make the best decision for James.

As the physician and parents collaborate in this critical case, several factors should be the basis for their teamwork and decisions that align with patient autonomy. Educating parents and patients on treatment options and their implications promotes informed decision-making.

Therefore, it leads to positive outcomes and reduces the risk potential of autonomous choices. Patient autonomy also ensures that physicians involve patients and families in the health care process. Such an approach further promotes ethical practice, a cardinal responsibility for nursing professionals when providing end-of-life care and during other patient care encounters.
Decision-Making, Christian Perspective, and the Principles of Beneficence and Nonmaleficence

The Christian perspective guides health care providers in routine interactions with patients and families. To provide care that aligns with the Christian worldview, health care professionals should understand what Christian spiritual care implies and implement it accordingly. Guided by the principle that human beings are inherently spiritual, health care professionals should prioritize spiritual care at all stages of life.

To administer such care, health professionals should understand the patient’s internal worldview, respect it, and be intentional with spiritual needs (White, 2020; Green, 2021). As a result, the physician should be effectively guided by the parents’ worldview and be attentive to James’s family’s spiritual needs. On the other hand, Mike should guide the family in engaging in religious practices that promote positive holistic health.

He should understand that Christian beliefs/religious practices are a component of holistic care, and faith healing should not substitute the recommended medical procedures.

Beneficence and nonmaleficence are mainly concerned with the patient’s rights and care safety, which leads to positive outcomes and risk-free procedures. To promote beneficence, health care providers are mandated to provide empathetic and compassionate care and ensure all procedures are not motivated by self-interests.

The essence of compassionate care is alleviating suffering and pain, hence healing (Green, 2021). In the case study, Dr. Wilson is professionally mandated to foster beneficence through dialysis and similar procedures that benefit the patient. He should also be guided by the Christian dimension of beneficence that prompts Christians to do good to themselves and others in all situations (White, 2020).

Dr. Wilson and James’s parents should also collaborate to ensure harm-free procedures as nonmaleficence necessitates. A potential cause of harm in the case study is faith healing, which worsens James’s condition after the parents delayed the recommended dialysis.

To avoid such dangers, the physician and parents should jointly evaluate the health implications of each approach. Mike and Joanne should also act in the best interest of their child and avoid being clouded by religious beliefs.

Spiritual Needs Assessment Intervention

Health care providers should understand the value of spiritual care and support during distress. A spiritual needs assessment is an in-depth evaluation of someone’s experience of spiritual distress (Green, 2021). In the health context, spiritual distress involves disturbances within values and belief systems that offer hope and peace for patients and their families.

A suitable example of spiritual distress in the case study is Mike’s assumption that the child’s deteriorating health is God’s punishment or a lack of faith in God. Camara and Rosengarten (2021) demonstrated the knowledge of spirituality as an integral component of faith-sensitive care since it obliges an individual-level understanding of patients’ and families’ personal beliefs.

The assessment commences with a spiritual screen, which provides knowledge regarding faith preferences and religious/spiritual concerns. Next, health care providers evaluate how religious practices, beliefs, and values affect approaches to health and life in a given situation.

A spiritual assessment can facilitate holistic healing and foster healthy patient-provider relationships. After assessing the potential cause of spiritual distress, Dr. Wilson should use the spiritual assessment’s findings to guide Mike in embracing practices that provide hope and enable coping. As Green (2021) stated, a spiritual assessment enables health care providers to facilitate interventions that address current and emerging spiritual needs.

This facilitation can be done in collaboration with other team members or with family members. According to White (2020), a spiritual assessment is the foundation of an action plan that directs soul care and ensures intentional spiritual communication. With such a foundation, Dr. Wilson can effectively assist Mike and Joanne in directing their energies to spiritual practices that reduce distress.

Such practices include purposeful prayers, mindfulness, and relaxation techniques. The positivity accomplished with such practices would further promote healthy conversation between Dr. Wilson and James’s parents and ensure holism in the current procedures and follow-up care.

Professional Standards of Practice

Health care providers should always strive to achieve the best outcomes for patients and families. A commitment to honest and ethical conduct demonstrates professional accountability. In the case study, accountability is characterized by weighing the interests of the patient and family and using professional knowledge and judgment to foster positive patient outcomes.

An effective way of achieving such an outcome is embracing evidence-based practice, which integrates scientific evidence, clinical expertise, and patient values in decision-making. For instance, religious values should be respected in the case study as part of promoting patient autonomy.

Clinical judgment involves weighing how religious values and medical procedures can be combined to enhance patient outcomes. In agreement with White (2020), resilience can be improved by spiritual support to improve emotional and mental well-being.

Accountable health care professionals should ensure patients and families feel less vulnerable and appropriately supported through medical, spiritual, and religious resources. Professionally accountable care providers should also embrace patient-centeredness and collaboration in their routine practice. Patient-centeredness is achieved by formulating treatment plans tailored to address patient needs.

Understanding these needs obligates nursing professionals and other care providers to evaluate the patient’s concerns in-depth through active and intentional communication with family members. Dr. Wilson shows such intent by engaging James’s parents in decision-making and not coercing them to agree with his decisions. Open communication, respect for autonomy, and patient-centeredness ensure ethical practice that aligns with the established standards.

Conclusion

Health problems necessitate different approaches depending on their severity and participants. The case study highlights how religious beliefs and values influence decision-making and their implications in patient care. The principle of autonomy authorizes health care professionals to respect patients and their families’ independent decisions, although they might contradict the recommended medical procedures.

To enable patients and families to make informed decisions, health care providers should ensure everyone understands the available treatment options and their benefits and risks. As further demonstrated in the case study, spirituality is critical in health care.

Therefore, health care professionals should conduct spiritual assessments as situations necessitate and assist patients and families in practicing positive spirituality through resources, guidance, and collaboration.

References

• Camara, C., & Rosengarten, L. (2021). Faith-sensitive end of life care for children, young people and their families. British Journal of Nursing (Mark Allen Publishing), 30(5), 276–279. https //doi.org/10.12968/bjon.2021.30.5.276
  
• Green, C. A. (2021). Assessing spiritual health through the use of spiritual health assessment tools indications for end-of-life care. The International Journal of Health, Wellness and Society, 11(1), 189-197. https //doi.org/10.18848/2156-8960/CGP/v11i01/189-197
  
• White, K. A. (2020). Intervention, ethical decision-making, and spiritual care. Grand Canyon University. https //lc.gcumedia.com/phi413v/practicing-dignity-an-introduction-to-christian-values-and-decision-making-in-health-care/v1.1/#/chapter/5