Introduction: Man is a physical, biological, psychological, spiritual and social being and can only as such function as a whole, mature, responsible and healthy person. Spirituality is an aspect of humanity that relates to the way in which an individual seeks meaning and purpose of his life. It is a guide and a force of his actions, thoughts, it gives meaning to his life and instills in him the will to live. That is especially important in an environment such as a hospital, where he feels lonely and when he cannot perform his daily activities according to his needs. Purpose: The purpose of diploma work is to amend the existing nursing documentation in the way that it will include assessment of spiritual needs of a patient. That will be versed after obtaining information's about the ways of recognizing spiritual needs and after overviewing the nursing documentation of Slovenian hospitals, searching for existing tools for assessing spirituality. Methods: A descriptive method of work - reviewing Slovenian and foreign literature was used in a diploma work. We were searching for information's on the content of the phrase spiritual need, on signs and symptoms of spiritual needs, on ways of assessing them and on spiritual assessment tools. An analysis was also made of a blank nursing care documentation of 18 Slovenian hospitals. Overviewing documents called Sprejemna anamneza and Proces zdravstvene nege we obtained information's on presence of spiritual assessment tool. Results: Signs and symptoms of spiritual needs can demonstrate themselves with a change in person's relationship toward himself, with others, with nature or with the Sacred. A spiritual needs assessment can be performed according to individuals needs with various depth and using different assessing tools. The Overview on the nursing documentation of Slovenian hospitals showed that none of the existing assessment tools are currently in use, neither are columns on noting or escorting patients spiritual needs present. Discussion and conclusion: Spirituality can provide support, inner strength and meaning in difficult times of life to a patient and is therefore an important part of holistic nursing care. In order to satisfy the patient's spiritual needs in the hospital, it is necessary to perform a spiritual needs assessment and record it. For this purpose, based on the Overview of hospitals documentation and in compliance with guidelines of North American Nursing Diagnosis Association International an updated version of Sprejemna anamneza and Proces zdravstvene nege has been made with inclusion of spirituality.
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