Spiritual Care and Electronic Medical Recording in Dutch Hospitals

Abstract

Among Dutch healthcare professionals, it is not a foregone conclusion that conversations with patients should be recorded electronically. This article first describes the discussion among patients about the pros and cons of electronic medical records (EMR). The authors then discuss the Dutch and European legislators’ requirements for the protection of patients’ privacy and therefore of their stories and how these requirements work out in the practice of EMR. The third section is devoted to the question of why spiritual caregivers should record their conversations with patients. The authors put forward various arguments for this. In their view, charting appears to serve both the interests of patients and those of the healthcare providers and of the spiritual care professionals themselves. The authors then describe various possible methods of registration, including G. Fitchett’s model in an adapted, more secular form. By means of two case descriptions, one fairly extensive and one more concise, they show how registration takes place in practice at the Radboud University Medical Center in Nijmegen, Netherlands. The article concludes with the formulation of a plan and goals for the near future.

Screening the spiritual dimension of patients with a chronic or life-threatening disease: A reliability and construct validity study of the SPIRIT questionnaire.

“…The SPIRIT questionnaire (see Table 1) was developed to screen the spiritual dimension of patients (Berger et al, 2014; Scheper, 2014; Schrijver et al, 2013; Smeets, 2016; Smeets & de Vries, 2016; van Amerongen, 2015). The fundamental assumption in the SPIRIT questionnaire is that asking: “(…) what is on your mind at the moment,” followed by several topics, gives a good indication of the spiritual issues patients encounter and may want to discuss with a health care professional…”

“…A chronic or life-threatening disease not only affects people’s physical abilities but also their emotions, coping abilities, social interactions, and spirituality; how they are concerned with the meaning of life (Smeets & de Vries, 2016; van Meurs et al, 2018; Vincensi, 2019). Patients often face challenges regarding recovery, lasting ambivalences (like having to relate to their disease, balancing between selfcare and care for others, letting go and holding what is dear, and having to choose between quality of life or life-prolonging options), mortality (adapting to living life while knowing that death might be close), and decisions that raise medical and existential questions about their situation (ten Have et al, 2009; van Schrojenstein Lantman, 2007).…”

“…However, in these instruments, spirituality is largely connected to religion, and belief in a God is often assumed. These instruments are less appropriate to be used in a secularized country like the Netherlands (Knippenberg, 1998; Smeets & de Vries, 2016). Recently, in Ireland, a screening tool has been developed for the spiritual dimension of religious and nonreligious patients (Weathers et al, 2020).…”

“…Previous studies have noted the importance of a valid and more thorough quantitative instrument that is also suitable in a secularized context (Damen & Leget, 2017; Fitchett, 2017). With this aim, the Spirituality and Pastoral care In Relation to chronic Illness and Terminal disease (SPIRIT) questionnaire has been developed for screening in the Dutch health care setting (Schrijver et al, 2013; Smeets, 2010, 2016; Smeets & de Vries, 2016). In the present article, we present the SPIRIT questionnaire and describe its reliability and construct validity.…”