Cultural Involvement In Nursing

Based on the dramatic story of Mrs. Mendez's impending death and family conflicts, Gloria, despite family arguments and difficult decision-making, was present during her mother’s grieving and painful moments. During this time, Gloria came across a problem of controlling her mother’s pain. Mrs. Mendez had orders for pain management—Vicodin and morphine sulfate; however, Gloria was saving the morphine for last resort. As a result, the nurse had to intervene and educate the family about using the morphine for pain management and episodes of dyspnea or SOB. Throughout the scenario, the mother’s health was declining rapidly; therefore, new orders to increase the morphine and add more medications to the regimen were established based on the nurse's assessments.

Cultural Involvement As we shape our understanding of different cultural backgrounds, we must also understand their rationales behind those cultural
Mendez has self-determination to complete her personal wishes. According to the book, Role Development in Professional Nursing Practice by Kathleen Masters, autonomy is one’s ability to self-rule and to generate personal decisions independently (2017). Taking that into consideration, Mrs. Mendez has the right to do as she wishes with her care and future medical interventions. Family members can guide such decisions but cannot make decisions for Mrs. Mendez, unless specified in legal grounds. One example during the case study was when Mrs. Mendez asked the nurse not to discuss anything about her dying situation in front of her family. In this circumstance, the nurse has the obligation to follow the patient’s wishes at all times unless the POA has authority to know. Autonomy is positively relevant in this situation as in any situation where the patient has legal rights and authority. Overall, Mrs. Mendez has a great and supportive family, but this family needs emotional and physical support by