Training Chaplains to Provide Communication-Board-Guided Spiritual Care in the Intensive Care Unit

The Intensive Care Unit is an area of the hospital that can elicit high levels of emotional and spiritual distress due to high mortality and prognostic uncertainty. Religion and spirituality are often manifest through prayer, rituals, and ceremonies, which can unite the patient and family with the care team. However, miracle language and other religious or spiritual topics that misalign with the expectations of the medical team can also lead to discord. The acute nature of ICU care poses challenges in creating a therapeutic alliance necessary to effectively address the religious and spiritual needs of patients and families. In this chapter, we provide a practical approach to provide high quality spiritual care in the ICU.

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32 Spiritual Care of the Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit Patient and Family

Neurosurgical Intensive Care ◽

10.1055/b-0034-76165 ◽

2008 ◽

Keyword(s):

Intensive Care Unit ◽

Intensive Care ◽

Intensive Care Unit Patient ◽

Spiritual Care ◽

Neurosurgical Intensive Care ◽

Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit

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Barriers to Addressing the Spiritual and Religious Needs of Patients and Families in the Intensive Care Unit: A Qualitative Study of Critical Care Physicians

American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine® ◽

10.1177/1049909120970903 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 104990912097090

Author(s):

Christian K. Alch ◽

Christina L. Wright ◽

Kristin M. Collier ◽

Philip J. Choi

Keyword(s):

Intensive Care Unit ◽

Critical Care ◽

Intensive Care ◽

Spiritual Care ◽

Spiritual Needs ◽

Care Providers ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Care Services ◽

Qualitative Research Design ◽

Data Saturation

Objectives: Though critical care physicians feel responsible to address spiritual and religious needs with patients and families, and feel comfortable in doing so, they rarely address these needs in practice. We seek to explore this discrepancy through a qualitative interview process among physicians in the intensive care unit (ICU). Methods: A qualitative research design was constructed using semi-structured interviews among 11 volunteer critical care physicians at a single institution in the Midwest. The physicians discussed barriers to addressing spiritual and religious needs in the ICU. A code book of themes was created and developed through a regular and iterative process involving 4 investigators. Data saturation was reached as no new themes emerged. Results: Physicians reported feeling uncomfortable in addressing the spiritual needs of patients with different religious views. Physicians reported time limitations, and prioritized biomedical needs over spiritual needs. Many physicians delegate these conversations to more experienced spiritual care providers. Physicians cited uncertainty into how to access spiritual care services when they were desired. Additionally, physicians reported a lack of reminders to meet these needs, mentioning frequently the ICU bundle as one example. Conclusions: Barriers were identified among critical care physicians as to why spiritual and religious needs are rarely addressed. This may help inform institutions on how to better meet these needs in practice.

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Religion and Spiritual Care in Pediatric Intensive Care Unit: Parental Attitudes Regarding Physician Spiritual and Religious Inquiry

American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine® ◽

10.1177/1049909116682016 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 35 (1) ◽

pp. 28-33 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Tsovinar Arutyunyan ◽

Folafoluwa Odetola ◽

Ryan Swieringa ◽

Matthew Niedner

Keyword(s):

Intensive Care Unit ◽

Intensive Care ◽

Pediatric Intensive Care Unit ◽

Spiritual Care ◽

Religious Beliefs ◽

Parental Attitudes ◽

Academic Medical Center ◽

Pediatric Intensive Care ◽

Care Providers ◽

Seriously Ill

Objective: Parents of seriously ill children require attention to their spiritual needs, especially during end-of-life care. The objective of this study was to characterize parental attitudes regarding physician inquiry into their belief system. Materials and Main Results: A total of 162 surveys from parents of children hospitalized for >48 hours in pediatric intensive care unit in a tertiary academic medical center were analyzed. Forty-nine percent of all respondents and 62% of those who identified themselves as moderate to very spiritual or religious stated that their beliefs influenced the decisions they made about their child’s medical care. Although 34% of all respondents would like their physician to ask about their spiritual or religious beliefs, 48% would desire such enquiry if their child was seriously ill. Those who identified themselves as moderate to very spiritual or religious were most likely to welcome the discussion ( P < .001). Two-thirds of the respondents would feel comforted to know that their child’s physician prayed for their child. One-third of all respondents would feel very comfortable discussing their beliefs with a physician, whereas 62% would feel very comfortable having such discussions with a chaplain. Conclusion: The study findings suggest parental ambivalence when it comes to discussing their spiritual or religious beliefs with their child’s physicians. Given that improved understanding of parental spiritual and religious beliefs may be important in the decision-making process, incorporation of the expertise of professional spiritual care providers may provide the optimal context for enhanced parent–physician collaboration in the care of the critically ill child.

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