Question

You have been hired as a new RN on a busy pediatric unit in a large metropolitan hospital. The hospital provides services for a culturally diverse population, including African-American, Asian, and Hispanic people. Family members often attempt alternative healing practices specific to their culture and bring special foods from home to entice a sick child to eat. One of the more experienced nurses said to you, "We need to discourage these people from fooling with all this hocus pocus. We are trying to get their sick kid well in the time allowed under their managed care plans, and all this medicine-man stuff is only keeping the kid sick longer. Besides, all this stuff stinks up the rooms and brings in bugs." You have observed how important these healing rituals and foods are to the patients and families and believe that both the families and the children have benefited from this nontraditional approach to healing.

Questions

1. What are your feelings about nontraditional healing methods?
2. How should you respond to the experienced nurse?
3. How can you be a patient advocate without alienating your coworkers?
4. What could you do to assist your coworkers in becoming more culturally sensitive to their patients and families?
5. How can health-care facilities incorporate both Western and nontraditional medicine? Should they do this? Why or why not?

Answer 1

Eventhough their is only very little  evidence at this time that nontraditional methods are effective to cure patients .Many believe that they have psychological,emotional and spiritual support to people .Stress ,anxiety,and depression can be eased with the feeling of support and acceptance .Health care providers need to take history about all nontraditional methods because some of these methods can interact with conventional treatment methods .

NOWADAYS, a large group of people like to be the part of this complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and they most often used to treat back pains ,neck pain colds,anxiety,depression and joint pain  

question 2

from the side of nurse - nurse reacted against this practice because these practices have only very little evidence to support its effectiveness

health care providers should encourage patient to   ventilate his feelings about alternative healing practices and nurse should assess the emotional and psychological benefit patient is experiencing .it is important to document    and report all alternative therapies to check drug interaction   

question 3

remind the staff that for a quality patient centered health care it is necessary to honor the individual and respect their choice

question 4

encourage the staff to study the importance of various cultures

The nurse should avoid making assemptions.Assumptions can lead to a breakdown of trust and rapport between the nurse their patinent and reduce patient accepetence.It is important to learn about other cultures.As a nurse,part of your responsibility to your patient is to learn what you can about them.Healthcare only reaches its full potential when the all patient is considered including their family ,their day today life,their culture

.It is essential for nurses to build trust with their patients regardless or ethic or ratial backgrounds.

Question 5

It is not essential to incorporate western and non traditional medications but if we do so it is essential to convey alternative medications to doctor to avoid drug interactions,some believe that alternative medications can support patients emotional and psychological background so it is gives better result than conventional methods.

Western medicine pathology and curing disease while alternative medicine focus on the health and healing of a person.For both the treatments ,the majority of concern comes from general misunderstanding and a lack of compromise from both sides.