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In this situation, they are dealing with transcultural issues in particular cultural insensitivity. The patient’s mother is demonstrating various cultural and traditional practices to help heal her daughter. The mother is singing, sprinkling tobacco around the patient bed, hanging eagle feathers and crystals in the room, and her hand movements on the girl’s body. The nurse shows cultural insensitivity when she told the girl’s mother to take all the things down and refer to them as dirty. The nurse place ethnocentrism behavior by referring to the mother’s items as dirty. As said in Professor Holstein power point presentation, cultural competence includes both cultural awareness and cultural sensitivity. If cultural competence was in place it could have avoided dilemmas with diverse populations. Cultural awareness refers to having knowledge of customs from different culture. Cultural sensitivity is allowing the incorporation of the patient’s culture into nursing care. In the situation, the mother was using complementary therapies such as her items around the room and singing in the room. Also, it seemed as she was doing a ritual on her daughter as she was sprinkling tobacco and doing hand gestures over her body.
If I was the nurse, I would involve spiritual care from the beginning. According to Tiaki (2020), I would include a spiritual assessment to communicate with the patient and her family about their cultural perspectives. I would listen and observe for their needs and concerns. I would open the environment and allow for their items to stay in the room. I would ask them for any hours of privacy to not disturb any rituals they have and communicate with them to make sure we incorporate it to the patient’s care. I would approach by communicating with the patient to make sure her needs are met. Spending time with the patient and giving support to them. I would ensure safety of the patient and her health. After reviewing any complementary therapies if they are safe and won’t interfere with our treatment allow the mother to continue. The principles that would guide me would be cultural awareness, CAM therapies, sensitivity towards culture, and communication. It is important to have proper communication to be aware of the patient’s spiritual practices and beliefs.
Reference
Christian, L. (2020) Making space in education and practice for spiritual care. Kai Tiaki Nursing New Zealand, 26(7), 30-32.
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