The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Being culturally competent is essential in caring for the lives of others. As a nurse you will be caring for individuals and families who may or may not have the same beliefs and values and yourself. Despite the differences the nurse must be able to ask the appropriate questions, seek out tools that are going to help the client and family understand the importance of their care, and feel comfortable when giving care to others whose values and beliefs are different. The Lee's, a family that endured hardships, frustration, anger, confusion, and hope while living in the United State's of America. When the Lee's settled in the United States Foua gave birth to a baby girl named Lia. When Lia was three months old her older sister Yer slammed the front door. Moments later Lia’s eyes rolled into the back of her head, her arms jerked over her head, and she fainted. The only explanation her family could come up with was her soul was frightened by the noise and fled from her body and became lost. This in the Hmong community is known as qaug dab peg, “The Spirit Catches You and You fall Down” (Fadiman, 1997 p. 20). In the United States we call this behavior epilepsy, a neurological disorder that produces seizures from strong surges of electrical activity that affects certain parts of the brain. When an individual has two or more unprovoked seizures medical diagnosis of epilepsy is given (Epilepsy Foundation of America, 2012). When Lia’s seizures became worried Foua (mother) and Nao Kao (father) would carry Lia to the Merced Community Medical Center and this is where most of the story takes place; at the hospital and at Lia’s home. Merced Community Medical Center treated many Hmong individuals because it was the closest hospital to where a lot of the Hmong placed residency when accepted to the United States. Merced was a teaching hospital treating many medical
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Being culturally competent is essential in caring for the lives of others. As a nurse you will be caring for individuals and families who may or may not have the same beliefs and values and yourself. Despite the differences the nurse must be able to ask the appropriate questions, seek out tools that are going to help the client and family understand the importance of their care, and feel comfortable when giving care to others whose values and beliefs are different. The Lee's, a family that endured hardships, frustration, anger, confusion, and hope while living in the United State's of America. When the Lee's settled in the United States Foua gave birth to a baby girl named Lia. When Lia was three months old her older sister Yer slammed the front door. Moments later Lia’s eyes rolled into the back of her head, her arms jerked over her head, and she fainted. The only explanation her family could come up with was her soul was frightened by the noise and fled from her body and became lost. This in the Hmong community is known as qaug dab peg, “The Spirit Catches You and You fall Down” (Fadiman, 1997 p. 20). In the United States we call this behavior epilepsy, a neurological disorder that produces seizures from strong surges of electrical activity that affects certain parts of the brain. When an individual has two or more unprovoked seizures medical diagnosis of epilepsy is given (Epilepsy Foundation of America, 2012). When Lia’s seizures became worried Foua (mother) and Nao Kao (father) would carry Lia to the Merced Community Medical Center and this is where most of the story takes place; at the hospital and at Lia’s home. Merced Community Medical Center treated many Hmong individuals because it was the closest hospital to where a lot of the Hmong placed residency when accepted to the United States. Merced was a teaching hospital treating many medical