Indian and Australian Cultural beliefs and tradition on Death and Essay

Indian and Australian Cultural beliefs and tradition on Death and Dying Practices from the Nursing Perspective - Essay Example On the other hand, in the Australian culture, or in particular the culture of the Christians, death is viewed as the beginning of everlasting life with God. Though different concepts about death and the process associated with dying prevail, birth and death are the two aspects of life which will happen to everyone. Thus providing the medical care for the patients as they step into the final stage of their life is a stressful and at the same time heart breaking situation for the families. Under such drastic circumstances, medical personnel particularly the nurses play a major role in providing a comfort level for the patients and the family members associated with them. It is also considered to be one of the prime responsibilities of the nurse to balance the emotional feelings of the patients with their complex medical needs at the dying stage. Generally people who are in their death beds need the end-of-life treatment by the critical care nurses. â€Å"Critical care nurses provide c are to patients who fail to respond to treatments offered to support and prolong life.† (Efstathiou and Clifford, 2011). ... This paper will discuss the Indian and Australian cultural beliefs regarding death and the events associated with dying from the nursing perspective. It will also include how understanding the culture and the traditional beliefs can support the nurse to render a palliative approach to the people who are dying and for their families. Comparison of the cultures and accordingly the nurses’ role: Although, Indian culture is diverse as India is home to number of religions and their related culture, with Hindus being the majority, their culture is viewed as the common thread of the Indian culture. In most of the families following the Indian culture, the basic healthcare decisions are made by the senior most member of the patient’s family. Thus, it would be better for the nurses to approach that particular individual, when decisions have to be taken regarding crucial medical as well as personal issues. People in Indian culture are mostly family oriented, having strong relatio nships with a extended family circle and so the patients may have constant flow of visitors at any given point of time. Nurses have to understand this tradition or practice, and take steps to allow the patient visits by the relatives and friends, without affecting the treatment or even the comfort of the patients. In addition, the nurse who cares for the Hindu patients at home or at hospital to assist the relatives in the way of singing, chanting, praying, reading from holy books, etc. Importantly, the patients themselves would always want their family by their side and so the nurses who attend to the dying patients should encourage the peer groups for the patients and the families for coping with the eventuality. Above all, they should empathize for