Mexican Americans: Death and Dying Hispanics are the fastest growing minority in the United States, and the majority of them are Mexican in origin (Kemp, 2001). The Roman Catholic Church plays a vital role in the culture and daily life of many Mexican Americans. Consequently, healthcare personnel must become culturally competent in dealing with the different beliefs possessed by these individuals. Nurses must have the knowledge and skills necessary to deliver care that is congruent with the patient’s cultural beliefs and practices (Kearney-Nunnery, 2010). The ways that a nurse cares for a Mexican American patient during the process of dying or at the critical time of death is especially important. The purpose of this paper is to examine Mexican Americans’ beliefs concerning terminal illness and death, explain the role of the nurse desired by Mexican Americans, and discuss how the knowledge gained will be incorporated into future nursing practice. Mexican Americans have strong beliefs about how to care for a loved one during times of terminal illness. Health and illness is often attributed to the will of God. Mexican Americans typically feel as if they are being punished by God or that it is simply fate that they are terminally ill (Kemp, 2001). Therefore, Mexican Americans typically take a passive role with regard to treatment options. For example, Mexican Americans seldom voice problems with pain while in the hospital due to a high value being placed on stoicism. Consequently, studies show that they receive inadequate analgesia more often than any other population. Life-sustaining measures may also be requested by family members if there is any hope that the ill loved one will survive. However, Mexican Americans believe that th... ... middle of paper ... ...piritual beliefs and practices on the treatment preferences of African Americans: A review of the literature. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 53(4), 711-719. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415. 2005.53224.x Kearney-Nunnery, R. (2012). Health, illness, and holism. In R. Kearney-Nunnery (Ed.), Advancing your career: Concepts of professional nursing (pp. 75-86). Philadelphia, PA: F.A. Davis Company. Kemp, C. (2001). Culture and the end of life: Hispanic cultures (focus on Mexican Americans). Journal of Hospice & Palliative Nursing, 3(1), 29-33. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rzh&AN=2001044497&site=eho st-live Taxis, J.C., Keller, T., & Cruz, V. (2008). Mexican Americans and hospice care: Culture, control, and communication. Journal of Hospice & Palliative Nursing, 10(3), 133-141. doi: 10.1097/01.NJH.0000306739.10636.5f
Social problems include difficulties with family relationships, isolation, interpersonal conflicts, and pressures of social roles. The Latino culture tends to place a higher premium on the well-being of the family unit over that of any one family member, a concept termed familialism (Smith & Montilla, 2006). In general, familialism emphasizes interdependence and connectedness in the family, and often extends familial ties beyond the nuclear family (Falicov, 1998). Given these values, Latinos often describe depression in terms of social withdrawal and isolation (Letamendi, et al., 2013). Social roles also play an important role in mental health, traditional gender roles in particular are strongly enforced and can be a source of distress. In Latino culture, men and women are expected to fulfill the roles outlined in the traditions of Machismo and Marianismo respectively. Machismo indicates that the man is supposed to be strong and authoritative, while Marianismo designates the woman as the heart of the family both morally and emotionally (Dreby, 2006). Although there is little research on causal factors, adherence to these traditional gender roles can pose a psychological burden and has been found to be strong predictor of depression (Nuñez, et al., 2015). The centrality of social problems in the conceptualization of depression for Latinos may be reflective of the collectivistic values that are characteristic of the group. Although these values have the potential to contribute to depression, they also have the potential to serve as protective factors and promote mental health (Holleran & Waller, 2003). Therefore, it is imperative that the counselor carefully consider cultural values, both in terms of potential benefits and drawbacks, to provide appropriate counseling to the Latino
These differences in origin accounts for diversity in socio-cultural backgrounds and nurses must develop the knowledge and the skills to engage patients from different cultures and to understand the beliefs and the values of those cultures (Jarvis, 2012). If healthcare professionals focus only on a narrowly defined biomedical approach to the treatment of disease, they will often misunderstand their patients, miss valuable diagnostic cues, and experience higher rates of patient noncompliance with therapies. Thus, it is important for a nurse to know what sociocultural background a patient is coming from in order to deliver safe an effective
Similar to other Hispanic patients, Cuban Americans tend to express their pain and discomfort, with verbal complaints, crying, and moaning (Purnell, 2013).
Nurses are both blessed and cursed to be with patients from the very first moments of life until their final breath. With those last breaths, each patient leaves someone behind. How do nurses handle the loss and grief that comes along with patients dying? How do they help the families and loved ones of deceased patients? Each person, no matter their background, must grieve the death of a loved one, but there is no right way to grieve and no two people will have the same reaction to death. It is the duty of nurses to respect the wishes and grieving process of each and every culture; of each and every individual (Verosky, 2006). This paper will address J. William Worden’s four tasks of mourning as well as the nursing implications involved – both when taking care of patients’ families and when coping with the loss of patients themselves.
The main idea behind this discussion board is to plan care for patient with diverse background different from mine, describe components of conducting a comprehensive cultural assessment on Latino Americans, reflection of my own culture and how it impacts my attitude toward providing culturally diverse care, and creating of two nursing diagnosis that reflect cultural
End-of-life care in the United States is often fraught with difficult decisions and borne with great expense. Americans are often uncomfortable discussing death and
Bereavement Among African Americans and Latino/a Americans. Journal Of Mental Health Counseling, 33(1), 11-20. Retrieved November 22, 2015, from http://kff.org/disparities-policy/report/health-coverage-for-the-hispanic-population-today-and-under-the-affordable-care-act/)Fennell, M., Feng, Z., Clark, M., & Mor, V. (n.d.). Elderly Hispanics More Likely To Reside In Poor-Quality Nursing Homes. November 22, 2015, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3825737/Hispanic Culture.
Kanellos, Nicolás, Felix M- Padilla, and Claudio Esteva Fabregat, eds. Handbook of Hispanic Cultures in the United States: Sociology. Houston: Arte Publico Press, 1994. Print.
All minority groups experience discrimination which leads to increased levels of stress in those individuals. As the level of stress goes up, so does the risk for several health complications including those related to mental health. Wells, Klap, Koike, and Sherbourne (2001) conducted a study examining the disparities in mental health care among black, Hispanic, and white Americans. Of those Hispanics in the study (n=617), 16.6% of them had a probable mental disorder compared to 13.4% of whites (n=7,299). Hispanics also had a higher incidence of substance abuse problems with 9% of those surveyed meeting criteria compared to 7.6% of whites. Hispanics also had the least reported perceived need for treatment with 10.4% for mental health and only 1.3% for substance abuse. A clinician treating Antonio should keep in mind that he has a higher likelihood of having a mental illness or substance use disorder than a white client as well as the fact that if he does meet the criteria for either, that he probably does not believe he needs
Millions of Americans are living with hypertension. Collaboration of patients and providers to control the disease can help prevent life-threatening illnesses. Patient perceptions pertaining to an illness or disease can dictate one’s health behaviors, yet little attention has been directed toward the perceptions of Mexican American adults in relation to hypertension. Although hypertension is most prevalent among African Americans, Hispanics have higher rates of mortality due to poverty, cultural barriers, and customs affecting modifiable risk factors, prevention, and treatment. Without the proper treatment, many hypertensive patients may face devastating complications, including myocardial infarction, kidney failure, and blindness.
To help me understand and analyze a different culture, I watched the film Selena. The film tells the life story of the famous singer Selena Quintanilla-Pérez. Not only does it just tell personal stories from her life, it also gives insight to the Mexican-American culture. Her whole life she lived in the United States, specifically in Texas, but was Hispanic and because of that both her and her family faced more struggles than white singers on the climb to her success. Even though the film is a story about a specific person, it brought understanding into the culture in which she lived. Keeping in mind that these ideas that I drew about the Mexican-American culture is very broad and do not apply to every single person in the culture, there were very obvious differences in their culture and the one that I belong. Mexican-American culture identifies with their family rather than individualized or spiritual identities and the culture has gone through significant changes because of discrimination and the changing demographics of the United States.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2009), Hispanics are the majority population to receive or use much needed medications, including prescription drugs for asthma; cardiovascular disease; diabetes; HIV/AIDS; and mental or psychological illness. Furthermore, according to the Census Department, Hispanics are the fastest growing minority population in the United States.
Transcultural nursing requires us to care for our patients by providing culturally sensitive care over a broad spectrum of patients. The purpose of this post is to describe cultural baggage, ethnocentrism, cultural imposition, prejudice, discrimination, and cultural congruence. I will also give an example of each term to help you understand the terminology related to nursing care. I will definite cultural self-assessment and explain why it is valuable for nurses to understand what their own self-assessment means. Finally, I will describe the five steps to delivering culturally congruent nursing care and how I have applied these concepts in my nursing practice.
As a nurse strive to provide culturally sensitive care, they must recognize how their client's and their perceptions are similiar as well as different. Nurse enhance their ability to provide client-centered care by reflecting on how their beliefs and values impact the nurse-patient relationship. To provide appropriate patient care, the nurse must understand her/his culture and that of the nurse profession. Cultural biases can be particularly difficult to identify when the nurse and client are of a similar cultural backgroup. When we recognize and know a culture, we will know what is right for our patient, and thus may impose our own values on the client by assuming our values are their values. Recognizing differences a present an opportunity not only to know the other, but also to help gain a greater sense of self. In this paper, I will explain more about diversity and cultural competence in case study.
Characteristics can be as diverse as ethnic background, language spoken, gender status, physical appearance, race, and religion to name a few. Migration from various countries is creating a diverse population with different cultures and languages within the United States. Due to these cultural differences and lack of knowledge, disparities are increasing. Studies have shown that both language barriers and lack of cultural customs can hinder the services provided to the patient by the healthcare worker (Renzaho, Romios, Crock, & Sonderlund, 2013). This study provided a positive outcome when communication and cultural mutual understanding took place and patients had a more positive health outcome. It is very important that nurses are diversified in various cultures in order to better care for our patients. According to Mareno and Hart (2014), cultural competency has become one of the core values being taught in nursing programs. Their study showed that the perceived level of cultural awareness and skills among the nurses provided was low. Awareness and knowledge levels increased with higher education. It was highly recommended that self-awareness exercises be incorporated into the nursing course and continued to be addressed during the remaining curriculum until