An article titled “The Palliative Care Needs of ethnic minority Patients: Staff Perspectives” discussed the palliative care staff’s perceptions of multicultural care provision and explored the barriers and facilitators to culturally sensitive care. This was a qualitative study done with five palliative care nurses. The study was conducted in the day care unit of a large palliative care facility of a university hospital in central England. The staff was asked to volunteer to participate in the study. Those who were interviewed had extensive experience working in palliative care for a number of years. The data revealed several themes that included staff philosophy of care; facilitators and barriers in the provision of multicultural care; aspects of care; positive perceptions; and palliative care complementing multicultural care.
The research by Driver, Molassiotis, and Weeks (2003) clearly shows the appreciation of differences between cultures as well as staff recognizing the individual nature of patients’ needs. The staff was supportive of the philosophy of individualized and customized care for each client. The staff also verbalized a desire for culturally specific knowledge to enhance their individualized care.
The Research paper on The Car Accident: A Case Study In Acid-Base Balance
Mr. Henderson, a 52-year-old male, was on his way to work during a heavy rainstorm when he lost control of his car and crossed into oncoming traffic where he collided head-on with a small delivery truck. Witnesses accessed the 911 emergency medical response system, and paramedics arrived quickly. The driver of the truck suffered only minor cuts and scrapes, but Mr. Henderson was having difficulty ...
Driver et al. (2003) stated some of the staff members noted they had not received training in multicultural care but they still felt very strongly that providing individualized multicultural care was central to their nursing practice. The staff also appeared to value more education and training to enhance their specific knowledge of different cultures. Four of the staff members thought a reference folder might be useful as a base of knowledge.
All of the staff felt that language barriers were an issue and using family members as interpreters was ill advised. The staff related that ethnic minority clients felt vulnerable to some degree and therefore were afraid to complain in case it affected their quality of care. Three participants felt that palliative care complemented multicultural care in regards to open visiting hours and the large number of family members often staying with the patient. The staff also expressed that the spiritual needs as well as the cultural and physical needs of the patient and family are easier to meet in palliative care than in regular hospital care because the staff has more time to sit and speak with the patient (Driver et al. 2003).
Driver et al (2003) felt the conclusions of the study indicated the staff showed cultural awareness and a lack of ethnocentrism. They also felt the staff gave more credence to individualized care and therefore did not need to use culturally specific knowledge very often. It was also noted that the facility had very little formal policy or guidance available to the staff for access. The significance of this article is limited by its small sample size however, the findings do add to other works available to support evidence- based practice (Driver et al. 2003).
I found this article to be very informative and educational in regards to palliative care, cultural diversity, and staff nurses. My area of experience currently is in home based hospice care. As I read the article, I realized how much alike the people throughout the world really are. This article was written in 2003 and was based on a palliative care facility at a large university setting in England and yet the nurses responded to the interview questions in much the same way we, as hospice nurses, would respond today. My staff and I very much agree on individualized and customized care based on cultural diversity, spirituality, family dynamics, and end of life care. We plan our care with the patient at the center and then ripple out to the family and extended family, widening the circle to include the caregivers, and medical staff. I plan to take this article to my office and present it as a one-hour self- study in-service to the staff.
The Essay on Child Care The Effect On Family Life
More and more families are putting their children into daycare every day. There are different reasons as to why they have to do this. The main reasons are that both parents have to work, or the child is in a single parent situation, and the parent has to work in order to have an income to buy basic needs. In order to pay the child care bill and the cost of enrolment fees, etc, parents will need to ...
Reference
Diver, F., Molassiotis, A., & Weeks, L. (2003).
The palliative care needs of ethnic minority patients: staff perspectives. International Journal of Palliative Nursing, 9(8), 343-351.
