Spiritual Care for Patient
When it comes to facilitating spiritual care for patients with worldviews different from your own, what are your strengths and weaknesses? If you were the patient, who would have the final say in terms of ethical decision-making and intervention in the event of a difficult situation?
Sample Answer
Spiritual Care for Patient
My main strength in facilitating spiritual care for patients with a different worldview is cultural competence. Cultural competence allows me to understand the world views of the diverse groups that I encounter in healthcare settings and be familiar with their spiritual approaches. Having familiarity with diverse cultures and their approach to spirituality makes it easy for me to understand their spiritual care needs and address such needs in healthcare settings (Hvidt et al., 2020). Cultural competence also makes me accommodate patients with different world views and view their spiritual care needs as important. As a Christian, I do not look down on patients who are not Christians and who may have different worldviews and spiritual beliefs and values from my own.
On the other hand, the main weakness that I encounter when it comes to facilitating and fulfilling the spiritual care needs for patients with a worldview different from my own is the lack of supporting resources. Therefore, despite being culturally competent, enthusiastic, and welcoming to different worldviews and diverse spiritual care needs of patients, I normally lack adequate supporting resources to fulfill my patients’ diverse spiritual care needs (Zakaryaee et al., 2018). For instance, in cases where a patient may not explain their worldviews, and spiritual care needs to me, I struggle to find adequate resources to learn about their specific world views.
Suppose I was in a difficult situation, such as a terminal illness or the loss of consciousness. In that case, my next of kin will have the final say in any interventions and ethical decision-making. My next of kin could therefore be my parents, siblings, spouse, or children. This is because these close family members would have my best interests at heart.
References
- Hvidt, N. C., Nielsen, K. T., Kørup, A. K., Prinds, C., Hansen, D. G., Viftrup, D. T., Assing Hvidt, E., Hammer, E. R., Falkø, E., Locher, F., Boelsbjerg, H. B., Wallin, J. A., Thomsen, K. F., Schrøder, K., Moestrup, L., Nissen, R. D., Stewart-Ferrer, S., Stripp, T. K., Steenfeldt, V. S., . . . Wæhrens, E. E. (2020). What is spiritual care? Professional perspectives on the concept of spiritual care identified through group concept mapping. BMJ Open, 10(12), e042142. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-042142
- Zakaryaee, N., Atashzadeh-Shoorideh, F., & Fani, M. (2018). The barriers and facilitators in providing spiritual care for parents who have children suffering from cancer. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, 7(6), 1319. https://doi.org/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_76_18
