Mormonism

Running head: CULTURALLY COMPETENT NURSING CARE

Culturally Competent Nursing Care

Nicole Peters

Apollo College

NUR 100

Professor Ming RN MSN

December 4, 2007

Culturally Competent Nursing Care

To be a successful nurse one must have knowledge of different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. It is important to provide culturally competent nursing care. A nurse must know what the patient beliefs are and how their certain beliefs relate to health care. This will effect the patient's decisions on the way he or she chooses to be taken care of.

A nurse should be very open minded and knowledgeable of different cultures and there beliefs. Every religion has different beliefs that they believed should be followed. The religion that will be discussed is Mormonism. This religion like most religions has many different beliefs that they do and do not believe in. For example, Mormons believe that your body is a temple and that you should respect it in everyway. That is no drinking coffee, tea, alcohol, or smoking. Another way that Mormons show respect for their bodies is through the way that they dress, "anything Ð''revealing' is frowned upon" (Jerome, 2004). Therefore if the nurse is knowledgeable of this religion they should know these certain rules and accommodate the patient to their beliefs. A way of doing this would be to have a substitute drink order of juice or milk instead of coffee or tea. Another way for the nurse to accommodate the patient beliefs would be to ask them if they would like extra blankets to cover themselves up more. Or ask to close their curtain. Some of the hospital outfits have an opening in the back and that might make the patient feel uncomfortable.

A nurse that is working in a gynecological setting should know not to offer an abortion to a Mormon patient. This is one belief that should be held very strongly. "Mormons are officially opposed to abortion, except when the pregnancy is the result of incest or rape, when the life or health of the mother would be in serious jeopardy, or when the fetus has serious defects that will not allow the baby to survive beyond birth" (Religion & Ethnics, 2004). Even with these exceptions abortion is still not seen as "the right course of action" (Religion & Ethnics, 2004). Not only is it not acceptable to have an abortion it is also a big belief to wait until marriage to have sex. If a nurse was confronted with this situation of a pregnant woman who is not married he or she should accommodate this persons beliefs by offering other options such as adoption. A nurse with a good knowledge of this patient's beliefs would help the patient feel more comfortable and possibly help the patient open up more to the nurse.

Another practice of Mormonism is to keep the Sabbath day holy and the belief in fasting. These events normally take place on Sunday and are considered very serious. The Sabbath day is meant for worship, rest, and family time. This might be a problem for a patient who is in the hospital and is immobile and cannot leave their bed. A good idea for the nurse would