Patients will always give different views pertaining to their religious beliefs in relation to recovery from illnesses. For instance, the patient in the spiritual assessment interview asserts that belief and prayer to God would be instrumental in boosting his recovery. He also gains strength through trusting God and the medicine offered at the hospital. Nurses must note this as it would be instrumental for his recovery.
One of the significant faith discoveries about the patient being interviewed is that he has the immense belief in God and spirits. The patient asserts that he can only access strength and hope for life through belief in God and spirits. This implies that only God and spirits give the patient the motivation to continue living normally. The patient believes that as long as God is present, most of his problems would be solved. Joshi (2012) asserts that the patient gets more strength and hope in God and His spirits because of the feeling that he is covered adequately in his life. In line with the patient’s enormous belief in God and His spirits, he hopes that specific rituals and these spirits would guide him in achieving the destiny planned for him by God before he was born.
The patient refers to rituals such as drumming, dancing, eating, and speaking with spirits as his guide towards achieving the destiny that God planned for him even before his birth. Another significant faith discovery about the patient is the frequent use of prayer to alleviate worries in life. The patient believes that the only way for one to communicate with God and His spirits is through prayer. According to him, prayer gives an individual the opportunity to talk to God and spirits and express his needs in a more spiritual manner. Therefore, the patient recites various types of prayers to Ochun, Babalu, and Shango. This implies that he conducts his prayers fo different needs and refers specific prayers to a specific God.
The patient also holds that only prayer alleviates worries in his life hence enhancing his contemplation. This boosts his hope in life because of the belief that God answers the prayers of His believers.The spiritual experience of the patient implies that he gains balance and hope in his life only when he turns to God to pray for the alleviation of his stress load. The patient reiterates that he has immense belief in God, because He is his source of hope and success in life.
Therefore, he frequently turns up to God to ask for His guidance and the elimination of any form of stress. According to the patient’s experience, God can eliminate stress effectively from the life of the individual and redeem his hope. More so, describing the experience of the patient when the assessment tool was utilized, it must be said that he gains balance and hope in life when he talks to God through prayer. Young & Koopsen (2006) affirm that prayer gives a special chance to talk to God directly hence helping alleviate the levels of stress in one’s life. In addition, the patient’s spiritual experience suggests that meditation also plays an instrumental role in boosting his recovery during illnesses.
Therefore, the patient dedicates some quiet time to God and spirits hence ensuring that he is able to cope with the illness. The quiet time spent with God and spirits gives him more strength and hope for quicker recovery as stress loads are alleviated. Concerning his spiritual experience, the patient has set spiritual goals which include a more intimate relationship with God, a more harmonious family relationship, more confidence and belief in self-image, and an improved life in mind and spirit. The spiritual assessment tool plays a significant role in assisting nurses and the entire medical staff to meet the needs of the patiient in a better manner.
Notably, it assists nurses to understand and appreciate the different beliefs of patients pertaining to medical care and religion. Effective understanding and appreciation of the religious beliefs of patients concerning treatment would play an instrumental role in guiding nurses in the delivery of the required medical care. The understandability and appreciation of the beliefs of the patient would enable nurses to allow the patient to practice rituals, which he believes would improve his recovery from illnesses. Therefore, nurses can deliver better services to their patients by giving them the opportunity to practice rituals that they believe would be vital in ensuring quicker recovery. More so, the spiritual assessment tool provides an effective guide to nurses and the entire medical staff when it comes to handling patients following religions, which are different from their own.
According to Taylor (2012), the spiritual assessment tool offers guidance to nurses of other religions concerning the manner in which the patient is to be handled. They would be able to follow these procedures hence ensuring that the patient’s needs are catered for effectively without any interference with his religious beliefs. Adherence to these procedures boosts the manner in which nurses deliver their services to patients hence enhancing their recovery from illnesses.In conclusion, it is vital for nurses and other medical practitioners to understand the spiritual beliefs of their patients. The patient interviewed asserts that he believes in God and is able to find hope only through prayer to God. Nurses must understand and appreciate his effective rituals such as dancing and singing for God as well as speaking and eating with the spirits.
This would boost recovery from the illness. Therefore, patients must always be allowed space to practice rituals and beliefs they think would assist them to recover.
