BENCHMARK- PATIENT’S SPIRITUAL NEEDS: CASE ANALYSIS PHI 413

Spiritual needs of patients demonstrate their preferences and perceptions about healthcare delivery and its significance in their lives. The case study on “Healing and Autonomy” involves the decisions that Mike and Joanne make concerning the treatment of their son James diagnosed by glomerulonephritis and requires kidney transplant. Based on their religious and spiritual beliefs and practices, they choose to forego interventions like dialysis leading to the worsening of his condition as they place their faith and trust in God for his healing. The worsened condition forces them to get back to the hospital and the physician recommends the need for kidney transplant with James’ brother’s kidney being the match. However, the parents are reluctant to have Samuel donate the kidney for his brother. The purpose of this essay is to discuss the significance of spiritual needs for the parents and offer reflection based on Christian perspective about issues surrounding the scenario.

Allowing Mike to Make Irrational Decisions

Physicians have an obligation to respect patient autonomy as part of the bioethical principles in care provision. Autonomy entails the rights of patients to make decisions and choices concerning their treatment and medical care without any influence from the provider. James is a minor in this case and the parents make the decisions on his behalf. Autonomy is essential in this case and whatever choices and decisions that the parents make, the physician should not stop them, even when they appear irrational from a medical perspective. Patient autonomy means that Mike and Joanne should be the sole decision-makers in this case (Sledge et al., 2022). However, they can make such decisions based on information provided by the physician.

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Healthcare providers should offer information and education to patients so that they make informed decisions. While the physician has an ethical obligation to respect the decision, he should use his expertise to offer sufficient education and information about the dangers of declining treatment interventions like the dialysis and the recommended surgical process. The physician must emphasize that the decisions Mike is making are irrational and continue to harm James. The physician should demonstrate using scientific evidence that Mike is making wrong decisions that are detrimental to the overall quality of life for his son James. However, the physician should not impose anything on Mike but should appreciate that they have a different perspective about the treatment of their boy.

Christian Thinking on Sickness and health, Medical Intervention & Mike’s Actions

Religion has a critical part in healthcare as it impacts the decisions that patients make. Christians must consider health as a virtue that enables them to interact with others. Health mirrors God’s blessings and love. Christians believe that health is a gift from God for being obedient and following His commandments. However, they should consider health and sickness as states of the body and human existence that emanate from different aspects (Saad & de Medeiros, 2020). For instance, they should consider sickness not as punishment but an opportunity to integrate best habits in life to focus on primary care. Christian ought to know that health and sickness are part of human life and not either as a reward or punishment from God.

Christians should not be against medical interventions. They should accept science and its biomedical uses to prevent and eliminate unnecessary suffering while also promoting the sanctity of life. The biblical narrative and teachings emphasize that medical interventions allow God to work through healthcare providers to offer healing to those who believe in Him. Human being have discovered medical interventions because of God’s gift of knowledge (Fuchs et al., 2021). Therefore, Christians should embrace medical interventions as they demonstrate God’s readiness to offer solutions to problems that they encounter. However, these interventions should not replace the place of God and Christians should pray as they seek cure from hospitals.

Mike needs to maintain and keep up his faith in God. He should know that God has power to heal his son. Mike should allow the physician to provide the suggested interventions while he prays for James’ healing through the surgical process. He should leverage the information offered to develop the best strategy to help his son. Mike needs to reflect on James’ condition and consider the kidney transplant as the best way to honor beneficence as it will save his life. Further, honoring beneficence and non-maleficence requires Mike to prioritize the suggested treatment interventions that include the current procedure, dialysis and what the physician has recommended as a long-tern solution, a kidney transplant.

Mike can honor non-maleficence by accepting the transplant and upholding his trust in God for better outcomes (Sledge et al., 2022).  He should focus on how the physician and his team can offer care that will not harm the boy based on the principle of non-maleficence. Mike needs to consider the rational choices presented by the physician to help James get quality life. By allowing James to undergo the intervention, Mike will be leveraging on a God-given provision and should trust that his son will be healed through the process.

Spiritual Needs Assessment to Determine Appropriate Interventions

Spiritual needs are important for patients for providers to attain effective care. The main purpose of a spiritual needs assessment is to enable physicians support patients through the incorporation of their religious and spiritual preferences and aspects. The assessment encourages patients to use spiritual resources to enhance their overall wellness and attain expected resilience through development and nurturing of hope and faith in their makers. Carrying out a spiritual needs assessment will also help the physician to improve their therapeutic interventions and interactions with patient (Al-Ubaidi, 2018). The assessment provides a chance for patients to attain a renewed purpose or focus on religious issues, growth, and resiliency. Again, the satisfaction of spiritual needs of patients provides the foundation of holistic approach to care.

Conducting a spiritual needs analysis or assessment is challenging, particularly when patients present no clues about the presence of the same aspect. In such situation, physicians have to use assessment tools like HOPE to determine the most appropriate interventions. Through this model and others, the physician can establish a rapport and incorporate patient’s religious practices and preferences in an effective manner (Damiano et al., 2021). Through a spiritual assessment, the physician will help Mike and Joanne know the best interventions for James. The assessment will create a safe place for the couple to discuss their religious beliefs, their fears about the life of their sons related to donation of the kidney among other issues hampering effective provision of care to James. The physician should seek assistance from a chaplain to conduct the assessment on Mike and Joanne.

Conclusion

Religious and spiritual beliefs affect the quality of care provided to patients based on the perspective that they hold. The case illustrates these aspects and requires one to have a better analysis, especially a spiritual needs assessment to help attain better outcomes. The implication is that a spiritual needs analysis will help ascertain the right interventions for James.

References

Al-Ubaidi, B. A. (2018). Integration of spiritual needs into patient care. Journal of Family

            Medicine and Disease Prevention, 3(2), 056-059. DOI: 10.23937/2469-5793/1510056

Damiano, R. F., Lucchetti, G., & Peres, M. F. P. (2021). Defining Spirituality in Healthcare: A

Systematic Review and Conceptual Framework. Frontiers in psychology, 12, 756080-756080. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.756080

Fuchs, J. R., Fuchs, J. W., Hauser, J. M., & Coors, M. E. (2021). Patient desire for spiritual

assessment is unmet in urban and rural primary care settings. BMC health services research, 21(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-021-06300-y

Saad, M., & de Medeiros, R. (2020). Spirituality and healthcare—Common grounds for the

secular and religious worlds and its clinical implications. Religions, 12(1), 22. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12010022

Sledge, R., Meyer, D., Zubatsky, M., Heiden-Rootes, K., Philipneri, M., & Browne, T. (2022). A

Systematic Literature Review of Relational Autonomy in Dialysis Decision Making. Health & Social Work, 47(1), 53-61. DOI: 10.1093/hsw/hlab042.

Assessment Description

In addition to the topic Resources, use the chart you completed and questions you answered in the Topic 3 about “Case Study: Healing and Autonomy” as the basis for your responses in this assignment.

Answer the following questions about a patient’s spiritual needs in light of the Christian worldview.

1. In 200-250 words, respond to the following: Should the physician allow Mike to continue making decisions that seem to him to be irrational and harmful to James, or would that mean a disrespect of a patient’s autonomy? Explain your rationale.
2. In 400-500 words, respond to the following: How ought the Christian think about sickness and health? How should a Christian think about medical intervention? What should Mike as a Christian do? How should he reason about trusting God and treating James in relation to what is truly honoring the principles of beneficence and nonmaleficence in James’s care?
3. In 200-250 words, respond to the following: How would a spiritual needs assessment help the physician assist Mike determine appropriate interventions for James and for his family or others involved in his care?

Remember to support your responses with the topic Resources.

While APA style is not required for the body of this assignment, solid academic writing is expected, and documentation of sources should be presented using APA formatting guidelines, which can be found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. A link to the LopesWrite technical support articles is located in Class Resources if you need assistance.