Premium Essay

Coping With Death And Dying And Culture Analysis

Submitted By
Words 1551
Pages 7
Dealing with and coping with death and dying is something that occurs every day all around the world. How a person and a culture copes with or deals with a death is a different story. Different cultures have different rituals when it comes to death, and they are greatly influenced by religion ((Lobar, Youngblut, Brooten, 2006). As nurses, it is important to understand and respect these different cultures as well as religions in order for the care provided to be the best that it can possibly be. Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism provide contrasting beliefs and rituals as to when a loved one dies. These religions/cultures, as well as all of the others, have 5 main concepts in common: symbols, community, ritual action, heritage, and transition …show more content…
It is vital that the patient’s culture is respected, yet it is also vital that hospital policies are followed. Nurses must respect the space and the needs of their patients and the family members while still maintaining good patient care. Interestingly enough, organ donation is allowed with permission of the family after the patient is considered brain dead (Lobar et al., 2006). This is something nurses may have the chance to educate and talk with the patient’s family about after the patient’s death. This matter of education and discussion would require a huge amount of respect and empathy. Something to consider further when caring for a dying Muslim patient is the fact that men prepare men’s bodies and women prepare women’s bodies (Leming, Dickinson, 2011, p. 389). This is extremely important for nurses to understand, because this too could play a role when you are taking care of this patient, not just after the person has passed. A female Muslim patient may prefer a female nurse, and vice versa. This is something that is not seen in Judaism and is important to the Muslim religion and culture. Again, it would be critical to ask questions if there are any uncertainties as to what the nurse could do, if anything. Like any other culture or religion, it could be assumed that condolences and empathy would be greatly accepted by …show more content…
There are so many different cultures, religions, and beliefs out there, especially in America. American society is so diverse and filled with people from all over the world who practice opposing religions and belong to a variety of different cultures. Nurses and health care professionals come face to face with death every single day. The people who practice Hinduism, Judaism, and Islam have very opposite yet somewhat similar beliefs when it comes to death and dying and the rituals that revolve around it. Though, these rituals are not set in stone. Religious beliefs sometimes change and people may become more or less observant when a loved one dies and they may wish to break tradition when faced with a death (Lobar et al., 2006). Nurses should learn to be flexible of patient’s beliefs and desires for when they die. One thing should be constant in all of this and that is the respect, empathy, and honor should be shown for the deceased one’s body and the family members that are left behind. Death is something that is not easy for anyone, regardless of culture or religion. The

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Evidenced Based Paper

...caring for palliative care patients?” Regina Nelson Governors State University Abstract Palliative Care Nurses are at risk of experiencing stressful situations related to symptom management and death. The aim of this paper is to critically examine the current stress nurses face caring for Palliative Care patients. Four Nursing Journals and one Psycho-Oncology were reviewed. There was strong evidence to support that nurse’s experience stress caring for Palliative care patients. Common concerns in the first study were caring for a dying patient; personal level, comfort of the patient, and mediating between patient and family. The second study reported physical and emotional health consequences for nurses who provide hospice and palliative care over extended periods of time. The third study of nursesreported job satisfaction, stressors, coping strategies, and support. The fourth study nurses had 10 themes that conceptualize their work that may enable palliative care workers to remain resilient and effectively buffer or moderate stressful effects. The fifth study reported routinization of care, lack of nursing staff’s availability for emotional engagement, frequent interruptions, quiet afternoons, upbeat and positive culture, and a matter of fact attitude surrounding death and dying ,were all the behaviors that “being with” could not create. Although the report showed nurses able to cope by not “being with” the overall impact is stress related to caring for Palliative care patients...

Words: 1898 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Presentaton

...application in end-of-life studies. Journal of Advanced Nursing 65(12), 2719–2732. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2009.05157.x Abstract Title. The use of theory in qualitative approaches to research: application in end-of-life studies. Aim. This paper is a report of an analysis of the use of theory in qualitative approaches to research as exemplified in qualitative end-of-life studies. Background. Nurses researchers turn to theory to conceptualize research problems and guide investigations. However, researchers using qualitative approaches do not consistently articulate how theory has been applied, and no clear consensus exists regarding the appropriate application of theory in qualitative studies. A review of qualitative, end-of-life studies is used to illustrate application of theory to study design and findings. Data sources. A review of theoretical literature was carried out, focusing on definitions and use of theory in qualitative end-of-life studies published in English between 1990 and 2008. Discussion. The term ‘theory’ continues to be used in a variety of ways by theorists and researchers. Within the reviewed end-of-life studies, the use of theory included theory creation or provision of a comparative framework for data analysis and interpretation. Implications for nursing. Nurses who...

Words: 9578 - Pages: 39

Premium Essay

Late Adulthood and Death

...Late Adulthood and Death Paper Late Adulthood and Death The final years of an individual's lifespan mark the time for reflection of one's life while also spending time with family, including grandchildren, and maintaining physical and mental health throughout the entire stage of late adulthood. Quality of life in late adulthood is determined by genetics, the modification of destructive lifestyles and behaviors, and selecting healthier options not only throughout the earlier stages of development but especially in this stage for improvements to health and having an overall sense of well-being (Berger, 2009). Remaining socially active and independent for as long as possible instead of succumbing to isolating is key during this stage of adulthood (Berger, 2009). In the stage of late adulthood living socially active, healthy, and physically active lives while maintaining important family roles is very important , which illiminates some stressor of aging that may be brought on by negative and stereotypical thoughts of ageism which will assist in their premature decline. High quality medical care assisted by technology can provide aging adults comfort knowing they are helping to protect and safeguard younger generations as science learns from the older generations. Ageism and Stereotypes In late adulthood, there are a lot of stereotypes and misunderstandings of older adults (Emotional and Social Development in Late Adulthood, n.d.). Ageism and perceptions against someone’s...

Words: 1362 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Abortion Research Paper

...Health After Abortion Women’s Health After Abortion Student Name Your University’s Name Women’s Health After Abortion Many studies have been done to try to understand what happens to a woman’s health both mentally and physically after having an abortion. People are led to believe abortion is safe, and that it will only fix your problems rather than create more or different problems. Research may suggest otherwise, and proposes that abortion can cause severe depression, breast cancer, and even death (Brind, 1996; Notman, 1976; Reardon, 2000). Abortion related depression can be caused for many different reasons. The three most common reasons for depression are guilt, shame, and anger. Breast cancer from abortion is believe to be caused by a hormone created at the start of a pregnancy which needs hormones created at the end of the pregnancy to fully develop them. Otherwise, these cells may turn into cancer cells. Large rises in suicidal, accidental, and natural deaths have been identified in women with a history of abortion. These are the three most dangerous consequences that can occur as a result of having an abortion (Brind, 1996; Notman, 1976; Reardon, 2000). Badgley (1977) observes two different studies on depression in Canada. The first is a study done in Saskatchewan that reported women with a history of abortion were almost twice as likely to have Women’s Health After Abortion a mental disorder as women who gave birth. The second, done in Alberta compared...

Words: 1778 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

History of Health Promotion

...wellbeing of those facing death. Indeed, health promotion is a core component of the nurse’s role. Originating in the UK, EoLC pathways have been adopted around the world.Their broad aim is to optimise the quality of the dying process, enabling people to ‘die well’ across care settings. This paper examines EoLC pathways in terms of promoting health and wellbeing in this discrete stage of the dying trajectory. Concepts of health and health promotion are described briefly and the idea of health-promoting palliative care and its association with a good death examined. The ensuing discussion relates to two EoLC documents. While acknowledging that much has been achieved it is argued that, despite the potential for promoting health and wellbeing, a professionally led, biomedical approach predominates, and in terms of promoting health and wellbeing at the end of life there is a pressing need for proactive advance care planning at an earlier point in the illness trajectory. Key words: End-of-life care l Care pathways l Terminal care l Health promotion Michael Allen is Staff Nurse, Chemotherapy Day Unit, Singleton Hospital, Abertawe Bro- Morgannwg University Hospital Board, Swansea, Wales; Tessa Watts is Senior Lecturer, Swansea University, Swansea, SA2 8PP, Wales Correspondence to: Tessa Watts t.watts@swansea.ac.uk End-of-life care (EoLC), a core component of palliative care, is concerned with pre- venting and easing suffering experienced by people facing death. As life draws to its...

Words: 5422 - Pages: 22

Premium Essay

Human Resource

...absence of disease or infirmity”. (World Health Organisation, http://www.who.int/en/). This definition has been the subject of controversy, because of the use of the word complete, and as lacking operational value. Health status in the term used to define to present state of illness or well- being in a community. Doorley (1998) describes health status in terms of rates of death of good and poor health practice, rates of death and disease and the prevalence of symptoms/ conditions of well-being. The most common indicators of Health Status are 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Life Expectancy Death Rates Morbidity Rates Lifestyle How well you feel within yourself Lifestyle and social status is of great importance for health status and quality of life. These are key factors that influence whether people are healthy or unhealthy. The family income and social status, social support networks, education, employment and working conditions, social environments, personal health practices and coping skills, health care services, culture and gender How we feel about ourselves depends on what age we are what social class we are in and the culture we live in. Smoking is one lifestyle we can do without. The tip is not to start. It is something that contributes to a lot of problems concerning our well being, breathing in certain people can be affected. Lung and throat cancer is aggravated by smoking; persistent cough is another common problem. The consumption of alcohol at high levels is dangerous to the liver function...

Words: 1369 - Pages: 6

Free Essay

Erik Erikson Theorys

...­ The Role of Families in Preventing and Adapting to HIV/AIDS Issues and Answers Willo Pequegnat­ National Institute of Mental Health José Szapocznik University of Miami A­ lthough the role of families in caring for its sick members is as old as hu­ mankind, only and health professionals,in recent years have researchers, family practitioners recognized the important role of the family in disease pre­ vention and health promotion (Anderson & Bury, 1988 ; Cohen & Wills, 1985; Kazak, 1989) . With enhanced treatments, HIV infection is now becoming a long-term chronic illness affecting hundreds of thousands of families . As a seri ous chronic illness, HIV infection is creating pressure o n health care and social and mental health service providers to design comprehensive systems for fami­ lies . For each of the more than 688,200 persons in the United States with AIDS, there are parents, siblings, aunts and uncles, and friends and partners in the fam­ ily constellation who are affected (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 1998b) . The family is de facto and often de jure caretakers when one of its members is ill or in trouble (Pequegnat & Bray, 1997). AUTHORS' NOTE: The second author was partially supported in writing this chapter by NIMH Grant R37 MH55796 . Requests for further information on this chapter should be sent to Dr. Willo Pequegnat, Associate Director, Primary Prevention, Translational, and International Research, Center for Mental Health...

Words: 10957 - Pages: 44

Premium Essay

Concept Analysis Healing

...Concept Analysis Healing Matilda Linares-Cornejo Chamberlain College of Nursing Theoretical Basis for Advance Nursing Practice NR 501 Lizabeth Vincent March 25, 2016 Concept Analysis Healing Advance practice nursing encompassed a mosaic of knowledge. These knowledge is acquire through years of formal educational and preparation, through the development of a deeper mode of critical thinking, through life experiences, through the desire to achieve and provide the best one can offer, and through the final understanding that one does not have all the answers or the power but one can help others to alleviate their pain. Advance practice nursing preparation is a journey that takes the nurse through different paths designed to provide understanding to how nursing science has developed and continues to evolve. Nursing science has made great advances-this thanks to the many theorists that thought their theories have guided, provided, and developed essential concepts now use in nursing care delivery. The following will be a discussion about concept analysis and how this lead to the development of theories. The concept of healing will be discussed as it applied though Barbara Dossey’s Theory of Integral Nursing. Third, the concept will be evaluated using the concept analysis process, and the conclusion will be a summary of how the healing concept is utilized within the broad scope of advance nursing practice. Concept Introduction Healing is Barbara Dossey’s Theory of Integral...

Words: 2557 - Pages: 11

Premium Essay

Dignity with Life

...DIGNITY IN END OF LIFE: THE ROLE OF NURSES BY (Student’s Name) Course Instructor Institution City, State Date Dignity in End of Life: The Role of Nurses LITERATURE REVIEW INTRODUCTION A literature review is a critical appraisal of researches that provides a comprehensive and up to date knowledge on a specific topic (Coughlan, Ryan and Cronin 2013). The purpose of literature review in nursing includes evaluating current practice and making recommendations for policy development and change. Thus, the purpose of this literature review is to establish the current perspectives of patients, family and nurses on the factors that improve dignity in the end of life. Resultantly, this literature review will explore the role of nurses’ based on the findings of the perspectives that patients, family and health professionals have concerning the issue of dignity in the end of life care. In that regard, the paper follows a systematic approach which involves an introduction that explains the concept of end of life and the types of end of life care available. The paper then proceeds to explore the concept of dignity as viewed from several perspectives through the use of literature on the models of dignity means of measuring dignity and the themes associated with this conception. Consequently, the factors that improve dignity are laid out and discussed at length. Eventually, the paper will achieve its secondary goal which is to determine and expound on the topic of the roles that a nurse...

Words: 10575 - Pages: 43

Premium Essay

Michael Ignatieff's "Deficits"

...‘breaking bad news’. As this conversation requires that the clinician divulge extremely sensitive and personal information, and usually incurs an emotional response from the patient, truth-telling to advanced cancer patients is not only a challenging task but also one likely to be handled differently in cultures according to differing norms for interpersonal behavior and communication. China and the United States, with their deepset communitarian vs. individualistic ethics, respectively, typify divergent cultures. This paper discusses cross-cultural differences in norms of truth-telling to cancer patients, that is, the extent to which physicians inform patients themselves of their disease status when prognosis is poor; China and the US are used to illustrating potential differences in approach and consequent cross-cultural misunderstandings. In an increasingly mobile global community, in which information technology and telecommunications span cultures and patients are increasingly well informed, clinicians around the world would be well advised to become aware of the communication styles and expectations, and to make an effort to understand the norms, of their patients’ cultures of origin....

Words: 5891 - Pages: 24

Free Essay

Away from Her Assignment

...[pic] Away From Her Unit Assignment I. Summary of Movie A. Give a summary of the plot and characters and the story that unfolds in this movie. Give a detailed description of the main characters’ personalities, culture, socioeconomic and historical contexts, their relationships, set the stage of “who they are’ when the movie begins, and then tell the story of what happens over the course of the film. Away from Her is a motion picture designed to depict a realistic story of the challenges individuals must face when a family member is diagnosed and is experiencing the effects of Alzheimer's disease. The onset of the film describes the lives of Fiona and Grant Anderson, who had been married for over forty-four years. They lived in Fiona's grandparent's home in Ontario for most of their marriage, and shared similar interests in their hobby's and lifestyle. The movie progresses by depicting their routine ski trekking on a frozen lake and casual readings together. The purpose of depicting aspects of their everyday life was to enhance the sharp contrast in Fiona's behaviors as her Alzheimer's progressed. At first, Grant believed that her moments of forgetfulness were just that, but the occurrences became more drastic over time. The turning point that clearly demonstrated Fiona's Alzheimer development was her wandering across the forest in the freezing cold, where Grant had to drive around town to find her looking at the sights over a bridge far from...

Words: 5471 - Pages: 22

Premium Essay

Euthanasia

...EDUCATION AND TRAINING LEGAL AND EThICAL IssUEs Of EUThANAsIA: ARGUmENTATIvE EssAy Bilal S. H. Badr Naga Majd T. Mrayyan (1) Bilal S. H. Badr Naga., MSN, RN, Prince Sultan Cardiac Center in Qassim, Saudi Arabia (2) Majd T. Mrayyan., Prof, RN, The Hashemite University, Jordan Correspondence: Bilal S. H. Badr Naga., MSN, RN, Prince Sultan Cardiac Center in Qassim, Saudi Arabia Email: Bilal_badrnaga@yahoo.com Case scenario Abstract Euthanasia is one of the issues that has been the subject of intense debate over time. It has been a pertinent issue in human rights discourse as it also affects ethical and legal issues pertaining to patients and health care providers. This paper discusses the legal and ethical debates concerning both types of euthanasia. It focuses on both the supporter of euthanasia and the opponent of euthanasia. Several statements for the Euthanasia argument arediscussed: a merciful response that alleviates the suffering of patients which is sometimes wrongly perceived to be otherwise unrelievable; the autonomy in which the patient has the right to make his own choices; the regulation and legislation of existing practices of euthanasia to protect health care providers and patients. In this heated debate religious, political, ethical, legal and personal views are also included. Among all these, those who desperately want to end their lives because they simply cannot go on in any way, are the ones who suffer. Every individual or group has a different viewpoint...

Words: 7058 - Pages: 29

Premium Essay

The Fault

...John Green The Fault in Our Stars BACKGROUND INFO BACKGROUND AUTHOR BIO Full Name: John Michael Green Date of Birth: August 24th, 1977 Place of Birth: Indianapolis, Indiana Brief Life Story: John Green was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. Immediately after his birth, Green’s parents moved to Orlando, Florida. During his youth, he attended Lake Highland Preparatory School, a boarding school near Birmingham, Alabama. Later, he attended Kenyon College where he graduated in 2000 with a double major in English and Religious Studies. After graduating from Kenyon, Green worked in a children’s hospital while he enrolled in divinity school with the intention of becoming an Episcopal Priest. He never attended divinity school, however, because his experience working in the hospital with children suffering from life-threatening illnesses inspired him to become a writer. He lived in Chicago for several years, writing book reviews, writing for radio, and working in publishing. During this time he wrote his first novel, Looking for Alaska (2005) to immediate, and increasing, success. He followed that first novel with An Abundance of Katherines (2006), Paper Towns (2008), and The Fault in Our Stars (2012), which reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list for children. Green currently lives in Indianapolis with his wife and two kids, where he continues to write, produce videos, and speak publicly about an array of topics. chronicle his artistic journey in making the film adaption of his novel...

Words: 40116 - Pages: 161

Premium Essay

The Military, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Personality

...heritable, and comprised of broadly defined dimensions where cultural, social, and gender influences are irrelevant and personality traits are fairly stable (Cattell, Eber, & Tatsuoka, 1970; McCrae & Costa, 1997: Terracciano & McCrae, 2006). Other psychologists such as humanistic and positive psychologists believe quite the opposite and contend that humans are essentially good with free will to make choices, change outcomes, and seek out opportunities to enhance their quality of life with the goal of self-actualizing, making personality a more fluid and less deterministic perspective with a focus on values, resiliency, and subjective well-being (Cloninger, 2013). Other researchers such as Freud, Adler, Horney, and Jung believe culture, society, and environment are profoundly important influences on personality (working in tandem with biological drives and urges) especially regarding early relationships with parents, gender roles, and structure of birth-order and its expectations (Cloninger, 2013). Still others like Dollard and Miller, Skinner, Bandura, and Staats embrace a behavioral approach to personality development based on observational learning, behavior repertoires, operant conditioning, behavior modification,...

Words: 7789 - Pages: 32

Free Essay

Nice

...families to financial danger. In line with these findings, it was recommended that Road Transport Workers, RTW should use a formalized means to mitigate their losses. Keywords: Risk, Vulnerability, Mitigation, Risk exposure, Accident, Insurance 1.0 Introduction Risk is an integral part of mankind. It is a permanent and important part of life. Everyone is exposed to various kind of risk including their properties. The willingness on the part of insurance industry to underwrite these kinds of risks the society is exposed to is crucial to achieving sustainable development. It is obvious that the higher the level of development and improvement in technologies, the more lives and properties are likely to be exposed to risks such as injuries, death and loss or destruction of properties. Thus,...

Words: 7469 - Pages: 30