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By Harold G. Koenig
2nd ed, 272 pp, $21.95
West Conshohocken, PA, Templeton Foundation Press, 2007
ISBN-13: 978-1-5994-7116-7

JAMA. 2008;299(13):1608-1609.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Although many health professionals are uncomfortable with anyone other than a chaplain or clergyperson performing a spiritual history and assessment of a patient, the Joint Commission for the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations requires that a spiritual assessment be made for each patient admitted to an acute care hospital or a nursing home or seen by a home health agency. Furthermore, this spiritual assessment must be documented in the medical record. At a minimum, this includes the patient's denomination, beliefs, and any spiritual practices important to the patient, especially in light of the current illness or condition. Since roughly only 20% of patients see a chaplain but all see their health professionals, this screening might serve the other 80% by acknowledging their spiritual needs and addressing them directly or by a referral.

In the second edition of his book Spirituality in Patient Care: Why, How, When, and What, Harold Koenig, . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Pat Fosarelli, MD, DMin, Reviewer
Ecumenical Institute
Baltimore, Maryland
pfosarelli@stmarys.edu