Discusses Cultural Factors Assignment Report

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Introduction
Nurses play a critical role in facilitating palliative care as part of the multi-
disciplinary. Palliative care is referred to as care offered to people with lifelong health
conditions and who are living in the last months or years of their lives (Caxaj, Schill
& Janke, 2018). It is aimed at relieving pain and making the life of the patient as
comfortable as possible when they have a terminal illness. This essay identifies the
role of a multi-disciplinary team in caring for patients at John. The paper also
discusses the cultural factors, beliefs, and practices of John, which may influence his
care. The impact of the nurses' personal beliefs on John's care is also discussed in this
article.
Collaborative, ethical decision making is the process of using ethical
principles and moral principles in making decisions regarding the well-being of the
patients. Palliative care for a patient involves a multi-disciplinary team consisting of
professionals such as general practitioners, consultants, psychiatrists, dietitians,
nephrologists, nurses, and pharmacists, physicians, and also spiritual leaders. Every
member of the multi-disciplinary team plays a crucial role in helping to fulfill the
wishes of the patient and helping them to live the last days of their lives. One of the
ethical principles which are relevant when offering Mr. John care is the principle of
autonomy. Autonomy is the ability of a person to make decisions for themselves as
long as they can make the decision (Hernández-Marrero et al., 2019). John can make
his own decisions since he is an adult and of sound produced. The multi-disciplinary
team has to provide Mr. John with all the necessary information that they need to
decide the kind of care they want (McAndrew, 018). John has decided that he want to

die at home, and hence the multi-disciplinary team should facilitate Mr. John to
receive care at home.
The other ethical principle which is applicable in the case of John is
beneficence. This principle requires the team to balance the benefits of treatment and
its costs/risks (McAndrew, 2018). If a treatment intervention poses more risk, and it's
not bound to improve the life of the patient, the medical team should opt against this
intervention. Since Mr. John is suffering from end-stage renal disease, his decisions to
die at home should be respected and should be helped to receive palliative care while
at his home with his family (Cormack & Mazanec, 2019).
Palliative care in Australia requires adherence to the cultural beliefs,
traditions, and values of the patient (Advance Care Planning Australia, 2020). When
Mr. John is receiving palliative care, the multi-disciplinary team should ensure that all
decisions made in collaboration with the patients consider and respects the principles
of culturally sensitive care. Mr. John comes from the Aboriginal and Torres Islander
community who have preserved their heritage and cultures over the years. According
to Callister (2013). the Aboriginal people prefer to die at home rather than dying at
home. Dying at home helps in ensuring that their wishes before death are respected.
Dying at home also ensures that a person goes through all the rituals before and after
death.
Since these ceremonies take precedence over all other activities, some of the
ceremonies that take place include the smoking ceremonies, which are conducted in
the living room of the deceased to drive away from the spirit of the dead (Kelley et
al., 2019). The other ceremony includes the painting of ochre in the space the person
was living before they died and celebrating the life of the deceased with song and