How to Follow a Plan of Care for a Hospice Chaplain
If spirituality is broadly defined as the need or longing to connect with something greater than, or at least outside of, oneself, then almost everyone can be said to have spiritual needs. Even people who identify as atheists or agnostics generally want their lives to have some meaning or purpose outside of a set of basic biological functions. By assessing for spiritual as well as religious needs and following an individualized plan of care, a hospice chaplain can help his patients find peace and integrity at the end of their lives.
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Instructions
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Conduct a complete spiritual assessment of the patient and her family within five days of admission to hospice. Each hospice has its own spiritual assessment form, some more comprehensive than others. Ideally the form should assess religious beliefs and practices, attitudes about impending death, beliefs about what, if anything, lies beyond, ideas about how the patient wants to be remembered, any spiritual or religious concerns that the patient brings up and anything else that catches the chaplain's attention.
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Develop an individualized spiritual plan of care in coordination with the other hospice team members. Components of the plan of care might include your frequency of visits, any specific rituals such as communion or prayer that the patient has requested that you carry out during visits, any needs or concerns that need to be addressed on an ongoing basis, and what plans you have to coordinate with the patient's clergy if the patient is affiliated with a church, synagogue, mosque or temple.
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Follow your plan of care, documenting each visit. In your documentation, describe each intervention and the patient's response to it. For instance, "Facilitated life review; patient spoke at length about how she wanted to be remembered by her daughter."
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Re-assess your plan of care on a regular basis and make any necessary changes in writing. People's attitudes and beliefs may change as they grow closer to death. Someone who had broken all ties with his church, for instance, might suddenly ask you to help get in touch with his old pastor, and a patient who presented as a devout Christian upon admission might start expressing doubt and disbelief.
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Tips & Warnings
Your role as a chaplain is to offer nondenominational, nonjudgmental spiritual support. Never try to convert a patient to your own beliefs.
Be kind and empathetic, but remember to keep professional boundaries intact; for instance, don't give out your home phone number or become "friends" on a social networking site.
Patients and families who have been praying for a miracle healing may become very angry at God -- and at you -- as it becomes apparent the miracle isn't going to happen. Lessen the chances of being the object of anger by never promising or even hinting that a miracle will occur.
References
- Photo Credit A spiritual moment image by thea walstra from Fotolia.com
