Assessment 1: Exploring Grief and Loss in Lebanese Australian Culture

This report delves into the cultural practices surrounding grief and loss within the Lebanese Australian community. It begins by identifying the cultural group, highlighting their religious diversity (Christian and Muslim) and customs, rituals, and spiritual factors associated with death. The report then examines cultural norms regarding grief expression, duration, and rituals. Part 2 focuses on the application of Value Statement 3 from the Code of Ethics for Nurses in Australia in providing nursing care, particularly in a scenario where a mother from a Lebanese Australian background has passed away. The report emphasizes the importance of nurses understanding and respecting cultural values, providing appropriate care, and applying ethical guidelines in their practice. The four dimensions of the value statement (self, person, colleagues, and community) are discussed in relation to the case study, underscoring the need for empathy, cultural sensitivity, and ethical decision-making in nursing care. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of respecting cultural diversity and providing appropriate care, considering the family's needs and the community's cultural values.

NURSING
1

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Assessment task 1 Exploring grief and loss across diverse cultures...............................................3
Part 1................................................................................................................................................3
Identify a cultural group..............................................................................................................3
Practices, customs and rituals following the death of a person in that cultural group................3
Religious and spiritual factors associated with death of a person in that cultural group.............3
Cultural norms regarding grief (Expression, duration and rituals)..............................................4
Part 2................................................................................................................................................4
Use of Value Statement 3 in the provision of nursing care.........................................................4
References........................................................................................................................................7
2

ASSESSMENT TASK 1 EXPLORING GRIEF AND LOSS ACROSS DIVERSE CULTURES
PART 1
Identify a cultural group
Lebanese Australians refers to citizens or permanent residents of Australia of Lebanese.
The community is diversified and it has large Christian religious people who are mostly known
as Maronite Catholics and Greek Orthodox. Along with this, the community also has large
number of Muslim group belongs to both Shia and Sunni branches of Islam. In Australia, around
55% of Lebanese are Christian; whereas, 37% people belongs to Muslim religion.
Practices, customs and rituals following the death of a person in that cultural group
Traditionally, Lebanese families share their bereavement not only with all the member of
the family; but with the entire community (Martin, 2016). At the time of death of a person in the
family, people visit to them to extend condolence to the bereaved family. Both Christians and
Muslims express a degree of fatalism in the face of death as they believe in sharing the
bereavement according to the religious practices. Lebanese Australians usually follow the same
customs which are followed in Christianity; hence cemeteries have separate section for major
Christian denominations. However, on the other hand in Islamic culture, bathing is essential after
burial immediately when the body is sent to mosque for prayers.
Religious and spiritual factors associated with death of a person in that cultural group
When a person dies, the body is usually taken to a funeral home straight away after
calling the family doctor. All the general processes such as body examine, medical certificate
and cause of death are conducted so as to ensure that proper procedure is being followed upon.
Funerals usually occur within 7-10 days of death and crying is done quietly (Palmer, 2016). For
2 days, people conduct grief and mourning which is conventionally focused on the emotional
response to loss. Funerals are usually very much elaborate; hence people are encouraged to
express their feelings of loss openly. According to religious background, it is essential for people
to express the feel of grief and sympathy. Whereas, at the same time, they have to visit the
family to show more concern about the incident happened. According to spiritual factors, it is
imperative for Lebanese Australians to go to churches so that proper prayers for the dead body
can be conducted.
3

Cultural norms regarding grief (Expression, duration and rituals)
At the time of death of a person, people visit to console the family members; therefore
according to Lebanese culture crying is done quietly wherein screaming and howling are
considered excessive (Walsh and et.al., 2002). Black is traditionally worn at funerals especially
by older people. The service is followed by the burial or cremation at a cemetery, then the ashes
are given to the family members. Family, friends and relatives also send death notices, cards and
flowers to the family in terms of expressing sympathy. The duration of grief lasts for not more
than 2 days; however relatives and friends can visit the family with flowers and messages within
the time period of one week.
PART 2
Use of Value Statement 3 in the provision of nursing care
The Code of Ethics for Nurses in Australia has been developed for the nursing profession
in Australia and it is relevant to all nurses at all levels and areas of practices including clinical,
education and research domains. The codes of ethics outlines the nursing profession’s
commitment to respect, promote, protect and uphold the fundamental rights of people who are
both the recipients and providers of nursing and health care (Walter, 2016).
For instance- A mother (from Lebanese Australian culture) dies, then her would be the
main person who highly faces grief and bereavement; therefore in this situation, nurses are
required to provide suitable care to the son so that he could overcome from the situation as early
as possible. As per the guiding framework, the code contains eight value statements and nurses
are encouraged to use the statements while giving care to the respected person (Clarke, 2016).
The first dimension is self which refers to nurse who is enrolled in that capacity. Second is to
person who requires health care services and support. Third is colleagues which comprises of
other nurses and health care workers who are involved in the care of the person. Last dimension
is community that refers to Australians society as a whole (regardless of geographic location).
They are involved as they help the nurses in sharing religious background and historical beliefs.
Since, these the major dimensions of the value statement under Code of Ethics for Nurses
in Australia (2008). All such aspects must exist in the nursing care procedure so that support
services could be delivered to the patient. Relating it to the case of death of mother, it can be said
that cultural values should be followed on higher extent and along with that sympathy should be
4

expressed greatly. All such code of ethics for nurses in Australia are essential to be followed
since it identifies the fundamental ethical standards and values to which the profession of nursing
is committed. It also provides nurses a reference point of view which guides ethical decision
making and practice (Code of Ethics for Nurses in Australia. 2005). Thus, it indicates to the
community the human right standards and ethical values which nurses are expected to uphold
while delivering nursing services to the patient (son). Nurses are also required to emphasize on
ethical guidance so that suitable services can be delivered to the respective patient.
While providing care services to the patient (son), it is vital for the nurse to value respect
and kindness for self and others so that chief focus could be given to diversity management. At
the time of rendering nursing services, nurses must acknowledge specific care for the patient
regardless of spiritual values, gender, age and ethnicity (Families and cultural diversity in
Australia. 2017). Respect for an individual’s needs includes recognition of the person’s place in
a family and community. Therefore, the mentioned four basic dimensions should be suitably
addressed and followed in the nursing practices for patient. Nurse is required to comprehend that
the situation (death of mother) is highly impactful for the son; hence while providing care,
specific attention should be given.
 Self: Nurses must place themselves right there at the position of patient (son) so that
nurse could feel the grief of patient. Death is a situation of grief wherein the family
members lose someone close to them. Death affects the family and everyone residing in
the same home; thus as per the situation, nurse must ensure that the death of a mother is
a situation which needs excessive sympathy, love and care (Palmer, 2016). Hence, being
at this situation, it is crucial for the cultural to emphasize on all the cultural values so
5
Dimensions of
Nursing
Self Person Community Colleagues

that the respective proceedings can be fulfilled effectively. Nurses must also include
thoughts, beliefs and perception of the person for better care.
 Person: It refers to the person who gets services from the nurses at the time of having
grief and bereavement. As per the example- the person (son) is experiencing grief
because of his mother’s death. In this situation, person is required to acknowledge
cultural and social aspects so as to develop better understanding in care procedure. This
is also essential in terms of developing proper communication among the person and the
nurse. It also requires nurses to develop cultural knowledge and awareness for the
purpose of developing better understanding among each other (Westaway and et.al.,
2016). This is also crucial in terms of providing care to the families and communities
during a health care encounter. Thus, according to the present case, nurse should try to
communicate directly with the person (whose mother died) in terms of meeting all his
moral support (Clarke, 2016).
 Community: According to Australian community, nurses must recognize and accept the
diversity of people. Further, they should also consider that cultural values, beliefs and
practices must be concerned with social and cultural facets. In this, nurses seek to
remove disparities among groups in societies which are regarded as highly vulnerable.
Thus, the practices of discrimination should not exist on any ground (Wilson,
Rosenman, White, Tilse and Feeney, 2016). Henceforth, according to the case, nurse
must work to reduce the adverse effects of power imbalances and prejudicial attitudes,
so that patient could be delivered appropriate nursing services. In short, it is crucial for
the nurse to ensure that people are not harmed and discriminated on the basis of their
appearance, language and cultural values. To help the patient in recovery, it is vital for
the nurse to focus on providing suitable care and concern.
 Colleagues: Nurses are required to value and accept the diversity among their
colleagues so as to acknowledge the need for non- discriminatory interpersonal and
interprofessional relationships. Hence, the nurse should also respect the knowledge,
skills and experience of others as a valuable resource (Wunn and Grojnowski, 2016).
Having integration with different enrolled and registered nurses could assist the person
to get recovered.
6

REFERENCES
Clarke, P. A., 2016. Birds and the Spirit World of the Lower Murray, South Australia. Journal of
Ethnobiology. 36(4). pp.746-764.
Code of Ethics for Nurses in Australia. 2005. [Pdf]. Available through:
<file:///C:/Users/user/Downloads/5_New-Code-of-Ethics-for-Nurses-August-2008.PDF>.
[Accessed on 22nd February 2017].
Families and cultural diversity in Australia. 2017. [Online]. Available through:
<https://aifs.gov.au/publications/families-and-cultural-diversity-australia/9-lebanese-
australian-families>. [Accessed on 22nd February 2017].
Martin, S. K., 2016. Dissection, Anatomy Acts and the Appropriation of Bodies in Nineteenth-
Century Australia:‘The Government’s Brains’ and the Benevolent Asylum. The Body
Divided: Human Beings and Human'Material'in Modern Medical History. 39(1). pp.53.
Palmer, K., 2016. Conclusion: Continuity, Noongar laws, customs and rights to
country. Noongar People Noongar Land: The Resilience of Aboriginal Culture in the
South West of Western Australia. pp.204.
Walsh, K. R. and et.al., 2002. Spiritual beliefs may affect outcome of bereavement: prospective
study. BMJ. 29; 324(7353): 1551.
Walter, T., 2016. And the English Way. The Unknown Country: Death in Australia, Britain and
the USA, pp.127.
Westaway, M. and et.al., 2016. The death of Kaakutja: a case of peri-mortem weapon trauma in
an Aboriginal man from north-western New South Wales, Australia. Antiquity. 90(353).
pp.1318-1333.
Wilson, J., Rosenman, L., White, B., Tilse, C. and Feeney, R., 2016. Cultural considerations in
will-making in Australia: A case study of Islamic or Sharia-compliant wills. Alternative
Law Journal. 41(1). pp.23-26.
Wunn, I. and Grojnowski, D., 2016. The Village, the Ritual, and Death. In Ancestors,
Territoriality, and Gods (pp. 153-172). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
7

8