religion – JRM Nurse Consultants

As nurses, we have the ability to use compassion and genuinely want the best for our patients. We understand our patients and want to help them find the best treatment that will help them. There are also nurses and doctors who do not exercise cultural competence in what the patient’s beliefs and wishes are. As nurses, we have to validate our patients’ feelings of fear of not being able to provide for their families. Many hospitals have case managers who focus on the hospital losing money and allow patients to treat at their facility but if they do not have insurance, they are very quick to send them elsewhere. Many times when this happens, these case managers that are gatekeepers, are not thinking of the patient’s safety.

Social workers and nurse case managers are the peacemakers in these delicate situations, involving patient advocacy. A good nurse case manager will identify the problem right away and diffuse it so that the focus is back on the patient. Sometimes our culture in America imposes our beliefs on others thinking that they have to accept a specific method of treatment, but the reality is patients have a choice. If a choice is explained well to someone, they will make the right decision. We as healthcare providers have to explain things to the patient and family to help them understand and make an informed decision.

The skill that the staff needs to learn about caring for patients from other cultures is to remember that we as healthcare providers have to be sensitive to someone’s beliefs or culture. Just because they do things differently does not mean it is wrong, it is just different. We as healthcare providers have to be respectful (Barr & Dowding, 2012).

Cultural expectations were seen in my previous job while I was the manager of a team of nurses and social workers. There was a manager from England and then there was myself, of Hispanic background. The majority of my team was from a different culture. There was a nurse on my team who was great, but she spoke with a thick island accent, however her patients loved her. The other manager like myself was from England. During a case presentation, the other manager stated how hard it was to understand her and she should not present again. I stated that was not a fair statement because she presented cases and her skills and case were valid. The other manager did not reply to my statement verbally but she made herself known by challenging everything I said in the future. It is instances like this that discourage people from staying in jobs.

References

Barr, J., & Dowding, L. (2012). What makes a leader? Leadership in healthcare (2nd ed., pp. 32-44). [Vital Source Bookshelf]. http://dx.doi.org/ Retrieved from

The religious ethics theory focuses on religion, which is depicted by the parent’s upbringing and the older family members typically. One particular faith, Jehovah’s Witness, does not allow for blood transfusions. This is very important when you have a baby in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) that is in need of the transfusion and the parent will not consent. The treating neonatologist will need to get a court order to do the transfusions. In an extreme emergency, if two doctors sign off that it is an emergency, then the baby will receive the transfusions while they await the court order. As a parent of a premature baby myself, I could not imagine not doing everything I could to save my child. But in this case, the religious code of ethics is based on the upbringing of the parent (Denisco & Barker, 2012).

The parent refusing to allow treatment of transfusions to their baby, would be a hindrance to the baby’s care, while at the same time as nurses we are trying to promote a family-centered type of care involving the caregivers in the decision making and treatment (Meadow, Feudtner, Matheny Antommaria, Sommer, & Lantos, 2010). When my baby was in the level 3 critical NICU, they had open rooms, because the babies were too critical to be in closed rooms. I watched a baby in front of us get sicker by the day and hearing the nurses and the doctors speak about the need for a blood transfusion and other treatments. By the time they gave the baby the blood transfusion, it was too late, and the baby was terminal. You as the parent are watching and hearing this because in this type of critical setup, there is nothing between you and the next bed except a curtain and in front of you, there is not a curtain. As a nurse I thought to myself, how can they be having this discussion right in the open this way? As a parent I thought, how can these parents watch their baby die? I thought about how those nurses felt and if I were the nurse in that situation, what would I have done.

With the use of the religious ethics, we may not agree with the family, but as nurses, we need to respect the other person’s customs and beliefs as long as the baby is being taken care of and there is not a medical threat to the baby’s life.

References

Denisco, S. M., & Barker, A. M. (2012). 25. In Advanced practice nursing: Evolving rules for the transformation of the profession (2nd ed., pp. 569-581). Retrieved from https://campus.capella.edu/web/library/home

Meadow, W., Feduter, C., & Matheny-Antomennaria, A. H. (2012, April 13, 2010). A premature infant with necrotizing enterocolitis. Special Articles-Ethics rounds. http://dx.doi.org/10.1542/peds.2010-0079

Rosie Moore, RN, DNP

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Years of experience in Work Comp, Case Management, Disease Management, Utilization Review and Prior Authorization.

Tag Archives: religion

Compassion Comes from the Heart

Religious Ethics