The most important aspect of health care delivery that is centered on the patient is that the nurse needs to respect the decision of the patient (Douglas et al., 2011). This aspect is due to the fact that, the patients are supposed to be incorporated in every other decision that the nurse and other members of the health care team have to make over the life and treatment of the patient. With close reference to the aspect of cultural differences, there are patients that will be particularly cautious of their cultural beliefs and in most of the cases will want these beliefs to be respected and maintained at all times. As mentioned earlier, these beliefs may range from, diets, clothing, gender of the attendant, religious observations to matters relating to pain, healing and death (Peterson-Iyer, 2014). As such the nurse has to work with the patient and the family to come to an understanding and agreement on the best way forward. In an example, it is common for registered nurses to be faced with patients who do not want to be attended by nurses of the opposite sex. It is important that the nurses understand that this is not the patient’s way of saying that they do not need help. They just want help that coincides with their cultural beliefs, which they are entitled to at…
