End of Life Essay - 1098 Words

Introduction Spiritual, religious, and cultural beliefs and practices play a significant role in the lives of patients who are seriously ill and dying. Attention to the spiritual component of the illness experienced by the patient and family is not new within the context of nursing care, yet many nurses lack the comfort or skills to assess and intervene in this dimension. Spirituality contains features of religiosity, but the two concepts are not interchangeable (Puchalski, Lunsford, Harris, et al., 2006). Spirituality refers to â€Å"one’s relationship with the transcendent questions†. For most people, contemplating one’s own death raises many issues, such as the meaning of existence, the purpose of suffering, and the existence of†¦show more content†¦It doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to be a spiritual person to be able to communicate with your patients about their spirituality and how they want that incorporated into their end of lif e care/experience. I think it means that you want to make that patients experience meaningful by providing holistic care; care of the whole patient. FICA The FICA Spiritual History Tool was developed by Dr. Puchalski and a group of primary care physicians to help physicians and other healthcare professionals address spiritual issues with patients. Spiritual histories are taken as part of the regular history during an annual exam or new patient visit, but can also be taken as part of follow-up visits, as appropriate. The FICA tool serves as a guide for conversations in the clinical setting. The acronym FICA can help structure questions in taking a spiritual history by healthcare professionals. F – Faith and Belief Do you consider yourself spiritual or religious? or Do you have spiritual beliefs that help you cope with stress? If the patient responds No, the health care provider might ask, What gives your life meaning? Sometimes patients respond with answers such as family, career, or nature. I – Importance What importance does your faith or belief have in our life? Have your beliefs influenced how you take care of yourself in this illness? What role do your beliefs play in regaining your health? C –Show MoreRelatedKeeping End Of Life Care1588 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction Bringing end-of-life care back into the community, specifically into-home, is a patient centered and cost effective option which provides an essentially holistic and comfortable environment for the dying and their families. The purpose of this paper will be to examine how bringing end-of-life care back into the community positively impacts patients, their families, the nurses in charge of their care and the relationships that are facilitated as well as provide an overview of the costRead MoreEssay Religion in End of Life Care2337 Words   |  10 Pagesquality of life then for a cure. 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