When Death and Dying Practices Contradict With Personal Beliefs and Chosen Religious Values

My Indian origin and culture believe in the cremation of the dead, primarily within one day of death (Sarna, 2021). This is contrary to other cultures where the burial ceremony is conducted days or weeks after the day of death. My culture practices cremation followed by scattering or storing the ashes, while most cultures bury the dead. Healthcare workers interact with patients from different cultures; therefore, they must understand different cultural practices concerning grief and death. Nurses and other healthcare workers must learn to separate their beliefs from the patients (Fernández et al., 2022). Accordingly, I will support patients’ dying practices by respecting and understanding them. I will also listen to a patient’s friend and family requests concerning their loved one. It is crucial to ask what the family’s beliefs are on death, the acceptance of different types of death, such as suicide, and how the hospital can support the family and loved ones of the deceased (Lin et al., 2022).

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References

Fernández-Ortega, P., Kav, S., & Arimón-Pagès, E. (2022). Nurses Providing Emotional Support and Spiritual Care to Patients and Families, Spain & Turkey. Global Perspectives in Cancer Care: Religion, Spirituality, and Cultural Diversity in Health and Healing, 86.

Lin, T., Tao, Y., Feng, X., Gao, Y., & Mashino, S. (2022). Cultural competence for disaster nursing: A scoping review of the Chinese and English literature. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 103188.

Sarna, N. (2021). Mother country of cremation: How a sacred rite became a vehicle for Indian national identity. TLS. Times Literary Supplement, (6176), 21-22.