Time to Develop Guidelines for Spiritual Care in Serious Illness.

In 2022, a JAMA systematic review of 342 high quality studies called for spiritual care to be a routine part of care for patients with serious illness. The review's multidisciplinary panel made several recommendations for addressing patients' and families' spiritual concerns. Despite these evidence-based recommendations, there are no clinical guidelines that inform when and how such spiritual care should be provided.

Improving Outcomes for ICU Family Members: The Role of Spiritual Care.

Having a family member hospitalized in the intensive care unit (ICU) can be a stressful experience for family members, encompassing both psychological and spiritual distress. With over 5 million ICU admissions annually in the United States, it is imperative to enhance the experiences and coping mechanisms of ICU family members. In particularly challenging situations, some family members even face psychological effects known as post-intensive care syndrome-family, which includes anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress.

A descriptive study of the multidisciplinary healthcare experiences of inpatient resuscitation events.

Background: In-hospital resuscitation events have complex and enduring effects on clinicians, with implications for job satisfaction, performance, and burnout. Ethically ambiguous cases are associated with increased moral distress. We aim to quantitatively describe the multidisciplinary resuscitation experience.

Relations of perceived injustice to psycho-spiritual outcomes in advanced lung and prostate cancer: Examining the role of acceptance and meaning making.

Objective: Many advanced cancer patients struggle with anxiety, depressive symptoms, and anger toward God and illness-related stressors. Patients may perceive their illness as an injustice (i.e.

Palliative and End-of-Life Care After Severe Stroke.

Background And Objectives: The distinct illness trajectory after acute ischemic stroke demands a better understanding of the utilization of palliative care consultations (PCC) for this patient cohort. This study sought to determine the prevalence, predictors, and outcomes associated with PCC for patients hospitalized with severe ischemic stroke.

Methods: This multicenter cohort study was conducted at four hospitals (2 comprehensive and 2 primary stroke centers) between January, 2016 and December, 2019.

Crucial Conversations for High-Risk Populations before Surgery: Advance Care Planning in a Preoperative Setting.

High-risk patients undergoing elective surgery are at risk for perioperative complications, including readmissions and death. Advance care planning (ACP) may allow for preparation for such events. (1) To assess the completion rate of advance directives (ADs) and their association with one year readmissions and mortality (2) to examine clinical events for decedents.

Interprofessional spiritual care education in pediatric hematology-oncology: A pilot study.

Background: Evidence and clinical guidelines call care team members to address the spiritual well-being of pediatric patients, especially adolescents and young adults (AYA), with cancer and blood disorders. However, the lack of relevant training in generalist spiritual care has been a key barrier. Therefore, we aimed to improve clinicians' capabilities by utilizing the Interprofessional Spiritual Care Education Curriculum (ISPEC) to close this gap in pediatric hematology-oncology.

Spiritual Care Assessment and Intervention (SCAI) for Adult Outpatients With Advanced Cancer and Caregivers: A Pilot Trial to Assess Feasibility, Acceptability, and Preliminary Effects.

Background: Although religion and spirituality are important to adults with cancer and their family caregivers, few studies have tested spiritual care interventions in the outpatient setting.

Aim: To determine the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effects of chaplain-delivered, semi-structured spiritual care to adult outpatients with advanced cancer and their caregivers.

Design: In this pre/post pilot intervention study, board-certified chaplains utilized the Spiritual Care Assessment and Intervention (SCAI) framework during 4 individual sessions.

Chaplaincy Care in the MICU: Examining the Association Between Spiritual Care and End-of-Life Outcomes.

Background: Seriously ill patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) experience severe spiritual and existential distress. Patients' surrogate decision makers face the burden of making complex decisions about their loved ones' care. Experienced chaplains may play a role in assisting with decision-making, possibly by aligning patients' values and wishes with treatment plans and avoiding non-beneficial aggressive measures.

Complex Transitions from Skilled Nursing Facility to Home: Patient and Caregiver Perspectives.

Background: Patients who undergo the complex series of transitions from the hospital to a skilled nursing facility (SNF) back to home represent a unique patient population with multiple comorbidities and impaired functional abilities. The needs and outcomes of patients who are discharged from the hospital to SNF before returning home are understudied in care transitions scholarship.

Objective: To study the patient and caregiver challenges and perspectives on transitions from the hospital to the SNF and back to home.

Chaplaincy Care in the MICU: Describing the Spiritual Care Provided to MICU Patients and Families at the End of Life.

Background: Gravely ill patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), and their families experience acute spiritual and existential needs and often require complex decisions about their care. Little is known about what constitutes chaplaincy care for patients or families in ICUs. Chaplains report that participation in medical decision-making is part of their role.

Development and Retrospective Review of a Pediatric Ethics Consultation Service at a Large Academic Center.

The primary objective was to review pediatric ethics consultations (PECs) at a large academic health center over a nine year period, assessing demographics, ethical issues, and consultant intervention. The secondary objective was to describe the evolution of PECs at our institution. This was a retrospective review of Consultation Summary Sheets compiled for PECs at our Academic Health Center between January 2008 and April 2017.

Factors Associated with Physician Moral Distress Caring for Hospitalized Elderly Patients Needing a Surrogate Decision-maker: a Prospective Study.

Background: When working with surrogate decision-makers, physicians often encounter ethical challenges that may cause moral distress which can have negative consequences for physicians.

Objective: To determine frequency of and factors associated with physicians' moral distress caring for patients requiring a surrogate.

Design: Prospective survey.

The Association of Surrogate Decision Makers' Religious and Spiritual Beliefs With End-of-Life Decisions.

Context: Although religion and spirituality are important to surrogate decision makers, little is known about the role of religion in decision making regarding life-sustaining treatments.

Objectives: To determine the relationships between dimensions of religion and spirituality and medical treatment decisions made by surrogates.

Methods: This prospective observational study enrolled patient/surrogate dyads from three hospitals in one metropolitan area.

Limitation of Life-Sustaining Care in the Critically Ill: A Systematic Review of the Literature.

When life-sustaining treatments (LST) are no longer effective or consistent with patient preferences, limitations may be set so that LSTs are withdrawn or withheld from the patient. Many studies have examined the frequency of limitations of LST in intensive care unit (ICU) settings in the past 30 years. This systematic review describes variation and patient characteristics associated with limitations of LST in critically ill patients in all types of ICUs in the United States.

Spiritual Experiences of Adults With Advanced Cancer in Outpatient Clinical Settings.

Context: Adults who have advanced cancer experience distress, and many use religion and spirituality to cope. Research on the spiritual experiences of patients with advanced cancer will help guide the provision of high-quality spiritual care.

Objectives: To qualitatively describe advanced cancer patients' spiritual experiences of illness.

Spiritual and Religious Coping of Medical Decision Makers for Hospitalized Older Adult Patients.

Background: Critically ill adult patients who face medical decisions often delegate others to make important decisions. Those who are authorized to make such decisions are typically family members, friends, or legally authorized representatives, often referred to as surrogates. Making medical decisions on behalf of others produces emotional distress.

Communication Quality Predicts Psychological Well-Being and Satisfaction in Family Surrogates of Hospitalized Older Adults: An Observational Study.

Background: Many hospitalized older adults require family surrogates to make decisions, but surrogates may perceive that the quality of medical decisions is low and may have poor psychological outcomes after the patient's hospitalization.

Objective: To determine the relationship between communication quality and high-quality medical decisions, psychological well-being, and satisfaction for surrogates of hospitalized older adults.

Design: Observational study at three hospitals in a Midwest metropolitan area.

Development of a Protocol for Successful Palliative Care Consultation in Population of Patients Receiving Mechanical Circulatory Support.

Background: In 2014, Joint Commission recommended palliative care (PC) engagement in ventricular assist device (VAD) implantation as destination therapy. Limited information is available on established PC protocols in the mechanical circulatory support (MCS) population.

Measures: The goals of our PC consultation were to document advance care planning (ACP) discussions and designate a surrogate decision maker (SDM) before MCS implantation.