Mankiw Instructor Manual Chapter there. An Assessment Tool Helps Nursing Homes Meet Residents' Spiritual Needs Sr. Kerrigan is a retired professor from Ursuline College, Pepper Pike, OH; and Ms. Harkulich is the director of research and professional services, Care Services, Beachwood, OH. In caring for the whole person, nursing homes must look beyond their residents' physical needs to address their psychosocial and spiritual needs as well.

But in 1991, the staff at Care Services, Beachwood, OH, realized that in the six homes it owns, the spiritual needs of many clients were not being met. To remedy this problem, administrators set up a meeting with one of the authors, Sr. Ruth Kerrigan, CSA, a retired professor who has a master's degree in sociology and in nursing and has studied comparative religions. She became the volunteer coordinator of a project to assess the spiritual needs of long-term care clients and develop interventions to meet those needs. Assessment Tool The first step was to generate an assessment tool, adapted from the writings of Ruth I.

Meeting the patient's spiritual needs is part of daily nursing care, yet many nurses feel uncomfortable performing a spiritual assessment. This is especially. FAAN, FPCN, Division of Nursing Research and Ed-ucation, Department of Population Sciences, City of. Evaluation of the FICA Tool for Spiritual Assessment.

Stoll ('Guidelines for Spiritual Assessment,' American Journal of Nursing, September 1979, pp. The tool was designed to be used with residents who belonged to organized religions, as well as those who lived according to certain principles but attended no specific church. The tool used two formats: open-ended questions that clients could answer in a story-telling manner, and the same questions with a checklist of common answers for easy documentation (see 'Spiritual Assessment Tool' at the end of this article). Either format maintained residents' privacy. The goal was to ascertain their spiritual interests, concerns, and needs that could be addressed by an individualized spiritual care program. Once the tool was generated, the project team set up six different breakfasts with clergy who visited each nursing home.

Kerrigan spoke at the breakfast about 'spiritual distress' as a nursing diagnosis. She pointed out that the project was a way for clergy to make their visits more meaningful, to provide facility staff with input, and to help to meet the residents' needs. The clergy were given a list of publications and some copies of articles to read, as well as a copy of the spiritual assessment tool. Initially, the project leaders had planned to launch the project in all six nursing homes.

But because of other pressing issues at the facilities, they decided to pilot test the project in one facility—Pine Valley Care Center. Pine Valley, a 104-bed facility in Richfield, OH, had recently converted a room to a chapel for resident and family use. After completion of the pilot project, other homes would become involved in the project one by one. Pilot Project Initially, the project planners had expected nursing personnel to initiate this project. However, since they were too busy, Pine Valley's activity director—who has a good relationship with the clergy—was chosen to initiate the project. Under her direction, many other staff members, including nurses, helped carry it out. Staff Cooperation This cooperative relationship between staff in different departments developed after a series of meetings with Sr.

She presented the tool to those in attendance and asked how they could become involved in an individualized spiritual care program for selected residents with whom they had good rapport. The meetings were open to anyone interested in the project, including housekeeping staff, since many residents talk to them but not to other staff. The meetings were videotaped so staff not in attendance could also learn about the project.

First Meeting At the first meeting, the administrator stressed the importance of spiritual counselors focusing on clients' religious needs and concerns without trying to impose their own beliefs. Two volunteer clergy who had already used the tool advised the staff about approaching residents, asking questions, and remaining nonjudgmental. They suggested asking a few questions at a time, taking perhaps a month to complete the process. For example, a nurse's assistant on the night shift could inquire about the client's thoughts and fears about life and death and then fill out that portion of the tool. Grain O Vator Manual Dexterity there. A few days later, the same resident might share some thoughts with the housekeeper, who would add them to the form. Second Meeting At another general meeting, the project director encouraged staff to try to assess only one resident to test their own skills and the resident's receptivity to talking about spirituality. Five staff members brought their findings to the next meeting.