Question

GERMAN CASE STUDY Margaret Schmidt, a terminally ill 60-year-old American of German descent, was recently admitted to a hospice service and is receiving care at home. Diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, Margaret’s prognosis is less than 6 months 4.Discuss the cultural filters you may use as you assist Margaret in her health-care decisions. 5.Describe the enculturation you, as a health-care professional, have experienced and how this influences your own health-care decisions.

Answer 1

Germans exercise more and they believe in the body’s ability to heal. They use less medicine like antibiotics than Americans do. Medicine can be purchased only at a Pharmacy. In Germany, people take lots of rest and time off work when they are sick. They eat lots of fruits and veggies, drink lots of fluids, particularly hot tea like Chamomile tea.

They use medicines like homoeopathy to heal themselves than the traditional medicine. The power of prayer and meditation are emphasized. They believe in using complementary therapies for relieving pain and ease the life.

In German culture, the home was identified as most people’s preferred place of death. Active euthanasia is illegal in Germany but Physician-Assisted Suicide (PAS) is not illegal in Germany. In Germany the physicians have the responsibility to attempt to apply all medical measures to prevent death, making PAS unfeasible in practice and The German Medical Association rejects PAS as against its ethics. Germans had relatively low acceptance of euthanasia given the secular and individualistic characteristics of the society.

Ms Margaret has to be cared for based on the above health care beliefs and culture. The hospice care must have the provisions to stick on to her beliefs. She must be offered with any assistance in meeting her cultural needs.

As a nurse, I started believing in the power of the human body to heal itself. The exercise and proper diet with minimum use of antibiotics are appreciated.