Generally, death is a certainty in life and every individual has to face it. Death commands people to take a moment to reflect, as human beings think and feel. It is important to realize that the end-of-life process is a significant experience for both the dying patient and his or her family. Healthcare professionals providing palliative care to patients should take into consideration the intense emotions surrounding the end-of-life process. Culture plays a significant role in end-of-life care. Therefore, providers should emphasize cultural diversity, as well as cultural competence in order to improve the quality of life for both the patient and the family. Health care providers and families play a significant role in relieving the suffering of dying patients during the end-of-life process.
Role of Healthcare Personnel and Family
When someone in America has a serious illness, the family members and the healthcare personnel play a significant role in helping the patient to cope with the symptoms and stresses associated with the serious illness. The healthcare personnel help the patients to face death right from the point of diagnosis. They are responsible for balancing psychological harm and truthfulness. However, the healthcare providers should recognize the patient’s autonomy with regards to whether they would like to be told everything or not. The healthcare personnel also provide psychological support to the dying patients (Tidy, 2015). They provide patients the opportunity to voice their emotions. An open communication between the healthcare professionals and the patients allows for timely and effective treatment of depression, particularly for those patients with morbid thoughts.
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Healthcare personnel also play a significant role in providing social support for patients with life-limiting illnesses. This can be achieved through social relations and networks. Dying patients need social support networks that can help them navigate through the emotional challenges associated with their health conditions. For instance healthcare providers play a primary social support role where there are no family members or friends. The nurses can also assist in providing personal care to dying patients such as toileting and bathing needs. Healthcare providers also provide support for family members through provision of information and bereavement care (Tidy, 2015). Essentially, relatives can be vital partners in the provision of end of life care to the patient. As such, healthcare professionals play an active role in facilitating end of life discussions between the patients and their families.
However, culture plays an important role in the delivery of end-of-life care. As such, healthcare practitioners should always be aware that it is considered inappropriate and culturally insensitive to discuss impending death in many cultures. Healthcare providers should always consider the cultural beliefs of the family members and patients, particularly before approaching individuals with a poor prognosis (Steinberg, 2011). This is because a failure to understand the beliefs of the family and patients may lead to a dysfunctional provider-patient relationship. It is important to realize that family members often respect the wishes of the dying patients. Therefore, healthcare professionals should always respect the wishes of the patients in order to maintain a healthy relationship between the family and patient. As such, the family members should be actively involved in setting the goals and objectives of the end-of-life care.
Role of the American Family
The American family plays an important role in the end-of-life care of patients, particularly the elderly. The elderly comprise a significant proportion of patients suffering from life-limiting illnesses (Ringdal & Andre, 2014). Children and grandchildren of the elderly patients are increasingly expected to enroll them in hospices. Hospice is helpful to elderly patients as it provides comprehensive comfort care, along with appropriate support for the family members. Basically, hospice care can be offered in two types of settings; at home or in a facility. The family members, thus, have the responsibility of ensuring that elderly patients get access to care, particularly during the end-of-life process.
Cultural Beliefs
Personally, I have several cultural beliefs that significantly influence the way I approach a dying patient and their families. For instance, I believe that it is impolite to discuss the impending death of the patient. Therefore, I will always talk from an optimistic point of view in order to avoid hurting the patient and the family members. However, I will consider providing care aimed at reducing the suffering of the patient by relieving the pain. Additionally, I believe that euthanasia is wrong and unethical (Steinberg, 2011). Therefore, I will not administer euthanasia to dying patients as I belief that doing so amounts to murder. Religion plays an important role in the way I approach dying patients. Prayer is one of the significant rituals performed by family members. I would consider taking part in such a ritual as a way of demonstrating empathy for the patient and the family.
In my culture, my expected role regarding to the death and dying in my family revolves around providing social support. I am also expected to provide spiritual support to the death and dying in my family. Normally, dying patients make several wishes that should be respected at all costs. Therefore, I am obliged to respect all the wishes of the death and dying in my family.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is clear that healthcare personnel and family members of dying patients play a significant role in the end-of-life care process. The healthcare providers are expected to relief the suffering of the dying patients, as well as take into consideration the cultural beliefs of the family and patients. The family also has an important role to play in providing end-of-life care. The family is vital in collaborating with the healthcare professionals to develop the goals of the end-of-life care. Additionally, cultural beliefs of individual healthcare professionals influence the way they approach a dying patient.
References
Tidy, C. (2015). Helping Patients Face Death and Dying. Patient , https://patient.info/doctor/helping-patients-face-death-and-dying
Ringdal, G., Andre, B. (2014). The importance of Palliative Care for Terminally Ill Cancer Patients and their Family Members. Journal of Palliative Care & Medicine , https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/the-importance-of-palliative-care-for-terminally-ill-cancer-patients-and-their-family-members-2165-7386.100176.php?aid=25814
Steinberg, S. (2011). Cultural and Religious Aspects of Palliative Care. International Journal of Critical Illness Injury Science, 1(2); 154-156. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3249849/
