CONCLUSION
Adding to patient care the responsibility of assessing patients’ spiritual wellbeing increases the likelihood that caregivers will often be in a position to share their beliefs and values with patients. Healthcare professionals who interpret the responsibility to assess their patients’ spiritual wellbeing as liberty to look for opportunities to impress their own beliefs and values on patients risk failing to respect or to be truly present with their patients. Pressing their beliefs and values may lead them to prejudge the spiritual wellbeing of patients whose beliefs and values differ from their own. Their attention span may narrow. Their diagnosis and/or management may be adversely influenced. Also, considerable diversity regarding ‘spirituality’ and ‘religion’ is usually found among the numerous professionals involved in a patient’s care. Liberty to impress one’s own beliefs and values on patients would not be restricted to the attending physician. Instead, all the professionals involved in a patient’s care -- including consultants, residents, medical students, nurses, social services personnel, et al -- could assume the same liberty, thus potentially putting patients in confusing as well as insecure situations. In order to guard against disrespecting patients and weakening their trust, caregivers should limit the way they share their beliefs and values with patients to discussions (1) they would summarize in the patient’s chart and (2) the medical team would consider part of the patient’s care.
Adding to patient care the responsibility of assessing patients’ spiritual wellbeing increases the likelihood that caregivers will often be in a position to share their beliefs and values with patients. Healthcare professionals who interpret the responsibility to assess their patients’ spiritual wellbeing as liberty to look for opportunities to impress their own beliefs and values on patients risk failing to respect or to be truly present with their patients. Pressing their beliefs and values may lead them to prejudge the spiritual wellbeing of patients whose beliefs and values differ from their own. Their attention span may narrow. Their diagnosis and/or management may be adversely influenced. Also, considerable diversity regarding ‘spirituality’ and ‘religion’ is usually found among the numerous professionals involved in a patient’s care. Liberty to impress one’s own beliefs and values on patients would not be restricted to the attending physician. Instead, all the professionals involved in a patient’s care -- including consultants, residents, medical students, nurses, social services personnel, et al -- could assume the same liberty, thus potentially putting patients in confusing as well as insecure situations. In order to guard against disrespecting patients and weakening their trust, caregivers should limit the way they share their beliefs and values with patients to discussions (1) they would summarize in the patient’s chart and (2) the medical team would consider part of the patient’s care.
