Development of a spiritual pain assessment sheet for terminal cancer patients: Targeting terminal cancer patients admitted to palliative care units in Japan

Abstract

Objective: This research explores the potential benefit of a spiritual pain assessment sheet to clinical practice. With spiritual pain defined as “pain caused by extinction of the being and meaning of the self,” the spiritual pain assessment sheet was developed by Hisayuki Murata from his conceptual framework reflecting the three dimensions of a human being as a being founded on temporality, a being in relationship, and a being with autonomy. The assessment sheet was developed from reviews of the literature and examinations from a philosophical perspective on the structure of spiritual pain.Methods: Patients admitted to palliative care units in Japan were interviewed using the assessment sheet. The responses were analyzed qualitatively. The usefulness of the assessment sheet and the burden placed on the patients by its use were also investigated.Results: The spiritual pain elucidated by the assessment sheet was the same as that revealed in the earlier research of Morita. The patients reported that they did not find the use of the assessment sheet a burden, and more than half reported that it was useful. The burden of the assessment sheet on the subjects was thus determined to be low. Positive feedback on the assessment sheet was also received from the nurses who conducted the patient interviews, who said the assessment sheet made it easier to talk with the patients about their spiritual pain.Significance of research: The research results indicate that the spiritual pain assessment sheet provided an appropriate assessment of spiritual pain among terminal cancer patients, showing that such a sheet could be used as an assessment tool in the future.

End-of-life care: Indian perspective

“…[16] Palliative care patients use spiritual and religious coping methods naturally when other coping methods do not provide solace. [17]…”

Validation of the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium Knowledge Assessment Test

“…10 A nine-module program that was designed for undergraduate students, educators in clinical settings, and faculty in nursing schools includes comprehensive content on caring for patients at the EOL and is available at http:// www.aacn.nche.edu/elnec/about.htm. An electronic search of Cumulative Index of Allied Health Literature, PubMed, and PsychINFO databases revealed that most published instruments regarding EOL or PC focus on patient-centered indicators such as depression, 13 pain, 14 quality of life, 15 symptom distress, 16 spirituality, 17 and EOL legal issues. Integrated throughout the modules in both versions are themes of family, culture, special population needs (eg, children, the poor or uninsured, older adults), PC, as well as the impact of EOL on organizational systems, financial considerations, and interprofessional collaboration.…”

Effectiveness of spiritual care using spiritual pain assessment sheet for advanced cancer patients: A pilot non-randomized controlled trial

“…Before this study, we developed the Spiritual Pain Assessment Sheet (SpiPas) to assess spiritual pain as a clinical tool for nurses. This was subsequently used to develop a care plan, based on findings from observational studies conducted with terminally ill patients, families, and spiritual care professionals in Japanese (Morita, 2004; Morita et al, 2004: Murata et al, 2006; Tamura et al, 2006). In the development phase, we defined spiritual pain as pain caused by extinction of the being and the meaning of self.…”

“…Spiritual assessment and care could thus have the role of clarifying these mechanisms of existence that cause spiritual pain in patients with terminal cancer. The feasibility and usefulness of SpiPas for nurses was shown in a pilot study of 253 hospice inpatients (Ichihara et al, 2009;Tamura et al, 2006Tamura et al, , 2009. Furthermore, a nurse education program using the SpiPas demonstrated increased nurse confidence and self-reported practice in caring for patients with terminal cancer (Morita et al, 2009(Morita et al, , 2014.…”