Life Crisis Reflection and Annotated Bibliography in Nursing Practice

This essay presents a reflective account of a life crisis experienced by a palliative care nurse, focusing on a case involving a patient, Mrs. Brown, who faced neglect and discrimination within the healthcare system due to her ethnicity and economic background. The nurse's reflection highlights the ethical dilemmas and emotional distress encountered, particularly the impact of racism and sexism. The essay then transitions into an annotated bibliography, providing in-depth analysis of ten journal articles related to nursing practice, management, and the profession, emphasizing social justice principles, cultural respect, and the governance of quality care. The citations explore topics like cultural respect in Aboriginal healthcare, quality of care governance, and psychological trauma in refugees, linking them to the nurse's experience and providing insights into healthcare disparities and ethical challenges within the Australian context. The assignment demonstrates the importance of providing equitable healthcare and the impact of leadership in addressing systemic issues.

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Part 1: Introduction and Life Crisis Case (500 words)
The respective essay is a reflective assignment as well as an annotated bibliography based on the
theme “life crisis”. The reflection is based upon my life crisis which I have gone through in my
professional life and the first half of the work is my reflection. In the second half of the paper, I
have provided with ten bibliography or journals which talks about nursing practice, management
and profession deeply and thoroughly.
I have been working as a palliative care giver and a specialist for almost five years in a reputed
hospital in Australia. The patients requiring palliative care had satisfying experience with me.
However, during my internship as a palliative care giver, I happened to experience a case of life
crisis. Mrs. Brown, who was a chronic bronchitis patient, had been admitted to palliative care unit
lately after she was taken out from the Intensive Care Unit. Throughout her stay in the palliative
care unit, she had shown signs of loss of appetite and changes in her urinary and bowel movement
where she frequently urinated and excreted, sometimes on bed itself. The most disturbing sign
which she showed was her delirium because of potassium-sodium imbalance which led her speak
obscurely in her sleep. However, the doctor-in-charge and the other palliative care team along with
me made every attempt to keep her potassium-sodium balanced by providing her with requisite
drugs for electrolyte balance in her body. As the days passed, Mrs. Brown became little weak and
often met with fever, unnecessary body ache and common cold. However, it was unfortunate that
she was sometimes neglected by the nurses and the palliative care team because she was an aged,
non English speaking woman from Torres Strait Island rural background and was economically not
feasible to get premium palliative care. The inherent racism and sexism in Australian health care
arena was, unfortunately, the reason behind the increasing illness of Mrs. Brown. As Mrs. Brown’s
son came to visit her in the unit, she complained about negligence of the nurses as she was
suffering from mild body pain and headache. Her son provided her with an aspirin. Since Mrs.
Brown’s kidney had been having trouble lately, the doze of aspirin turned into an obnoxious affair
NUR312Assessment Task 1

for her and she started having tremendous pain in her lower abdomen. She also experienced over-
swelling of her hands, feet and legs and an acute shortness of breath for a long time which made
her utterly panic stricken. As she was tremendously panic stricken, she began to feel nauseatic ad
vomited for quite a long time and frequently. As I was reported by the doctor-in-charge to
immediately attend the patient, I went there only to see that she had been in tears with emotional
distress and fear of her life. Mrs. Brown, who was big built, could bare the pain and physical
distress she experienced earlier but this time, when I went to provide her with anesthesia, she
fainted by glancing at the syringe, which made me understand that she had become psychologically
weak and has no hope to continue her life. She was again taken into the Critical Care Unit where
she was treated with proper medication and attention. I felt utterly disgusted at the inherent sexism
and racism in the health care centers of Australia where “equity” which means fair allocation of
medical resources without discrimination on the grounds of ethnicity and economic background
and “rights” which echoed equal opportunity to achieve optimal health (according to Social Justice
Principles) was not provided to her initially. However, after an argument with the management, the
desired care giving was provided to her by not judging her in terms of her ethnicity and economic
condition. She had been reacting positively after proper treatment.
Part 2: Citations and annotations (1500 words)
Citation 1:
Freeman, T., Edwards, T., Baum, F., Lawless, A., Jolley, G., Javanparast, S. and Francis, T.,
2014. Cultural respect strategies in Australian Aboriginal primary health care services:
beyond education and training of practitioners. Australian and New Zealand Journal of
Public Health, 38(4), pp.355-361.
Social justice principle- The respective paper is relevant to the “equity” of social justice principle
of healthcare of Australia as it encompasses the standards of healthcare services to the aboriginals
and the indigenous marginalized communities of Australia, providing details about the positive as
well as the negative aspects of healthcare provided to them.
NUR312Assessment Task 1

The respective article “Cultural respect strategies in Australian Aboriginal primary health care
services: beyond education and training of practitioners” is an introspection, analysis and
interpretation of the health-service-level strategies for culturally respectful care for the aboriginal
Torres Strait Islanders of Australia, who are the most marginalized community of the country.
With the help of two case studies, one taken at aboriginal community controlled healthcare center
and one state government managed primary health care service, the outcome that was found was
positive achievement of cultural respect in both the cases. However, certain barriers included
communication difficulties and subtle subconscious racism. However, it is concluded that service
level justice had been necessary to achieve cultural respect.
The respective paper is relevant to my nursing practice because it has encompassed the issue of
healthcare service provided in Australia to the marginalized sections of people in Australia, the
Torres Strait Islanders. As I work as a health care practitioner, I come across different people from
different communities of Australia and with the help of the respective article, I would be able to
understand the healthcare service status of the indigenous community of the nation and provide
them the respective care they are entitled to.
Citation 2:
Freeman, T., Edwards, T., Baum, F., Lawless, A., Jolley, G., Javanparast, S. and Francis, T.,
2014. Cultural respect strategies in Australian Aboriginal primary health care services:
beyond education and training of practitioners. Australian and New Zealand Journal of
Public Health, 38(4), pp.355-361.
Social justice principle- The respective paper is relevant to the “equity” of social justice principle
of healthcare of Australia as it encompasses the standards of healthcare services to the aboriginals
and the indigenous marginalized communities of Australia, providing details about the positive as
well as the negative aspects of healthcare provided to them.
The respective article “Cultural respect strategies in Australian Aboriginal primary health care
services: beyond education and training of practitioners” is an introspection, analysis and
interpretation of the health-service-level strategies for culturally respectful care for the aboriginal
NUR312Assessment Task 1

Torres Strait Islanders of Australia, who are the most marginalized community of the country.
With the help of two case studies, one taken at aboriginal community controlled healthcare center
and one state government managed primary health care service, the outcome that was found was
positive achievement of cultural respect in both the cases. However, certain barriers included
communication difficulties and subtle subconscious racism. However, it is concluded that service
level justice had been necessary to achieve cultural respect.
The respective paper is relevant to my nursing practice because it has encompassed the issue
of healthcare service provided in Australia to the marginalized sections of people in
Australia, the Torres Strait Islanders. As I work as a health care practitioner, I come across
different people from different communities of Australia and with the help of the respective
article, I would be able to understand the healthcare service status of the indigenous
community of the nation and provide them the respective care they are entitled to.
Citation 3:
Bismark, M.M. and Studdert, D.M., 2014. Governance of quality of care: a qualitative study
of health service boards in Victoria, Australia. BMJ Qual Saf, 23(6), pp.474-482.
Social Justice Principle: Rights
The respective peer reviewed article is intended to describe the engagement of health service
boards with quality of care issues and the paper has also identified factors that influence health
service boards activities in the respected mentioned area, based on the social justice principle of
rights, which means the rights of the patients to get proper healthcare without discrimination. The
outcome of the introspection of the respective article was that the health service boards of Australia
has been eager to establish quality of care as one of the most important governance policy but with
certain limitations such as insufficient resources of the practitioners, insufficient skills and
experiences which has subsequently harmed the health care seekers to a certain extent, which is
needed to be looked upon.
The respective paper is relevant to my nursing practice because it encompasses the problems
in providing the best possible healthcare which is a right to every individual patient. As I am
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a healthcare professional who works with the aim to provide premium healthcare to the
patients, the respective paper would help me to understand the barriers in such cases and
rectify the faults as much as possible.
Citation 4:
Bismark, M.M. and Studdert, D.M., 2014. Governance of quality of care: a qualitative study
of health service boards in Victoria, Australia. BMJ Qual Saf, 23(6), pp.474-482.
Social Justice Principle: Rights
The respective peer reviewed article is intended to describe the engagement of health service
boards with quality of care issues and the paper has also identified factors that influence health
service boards activities in the respected mentioned area, based on the social justice principle of
rights, which means the rights of the patients to get proper healthcare without discrimination. The
outcome of the introspection of the respective article was that the health service boards of Australia
has been eager to establish quality of care as one of the most important governance policy but with
certain limitations such as insufficient resources of the practitioners, insufficient skills and
experiences which has subsequently harmed the health care seekers to a certain extent, which is
needed to be looked upon.
The respective paper is relevant to my nursing practice because it encompasses the problems
in providing the best possible healthcare which is a right to every individual patient. As I am
a healthcare professional who works with the aim to provide premium healthcare to the
patients, the respective paper would help me to understand the barriers in such cases and
rectify the faults as much as possible.
Citation 5:
Bismark, M.M. and Studdert, D.M., 2014. Governance of quality of care: a qualitative study
of health service boards in Victoria, Australia. BMJ Qual Saf, 23(6), pp.474-482.
Social Justice Principle: Rights
The respective peer reviewed article is intended to describe the engagement of health service
boards with quality of care issues and the paper has also identified factors that influence health
service boards activities in the respected mentioned area, based on the social justice principle of
NUR312Assessment Task 1

rights, which means the rights of the patients to get proper healthcare without discrimination. The
outcome of the introspection of the respective article was that the health service boards of Australia
has been eager to establish quality of care as one of the most important governance policy but with
certain limitations such as insufficient resources of the practitioners, insufficient skills and
experiences which has subsequently harmed the health care seekers to a certain extent, which is
needed to be looked upon.
The respective paper is relevant to my nursing practice because it encompasses the problems
in providing the best possible healthcare which is a right to every individual patient. As I am
a healthcare professional who works with the aim to provide premium healthcare to the
patients, the respective paper would help me to understand the barriers in such cases and
rectify the faults as much as possible.
Citation 6:
Slewa-Younan, S., Mond, J.M., Bussion, E., Melkonian, M., Mohammad, Y., Dover, H.,
Smith, M., Milosevic, D. and Jorm, A.F., 2015. Psychological trauma and help seeking
behaviour amongst resettled Iraqi refugees in attending English tuition classes in Australia.
International journal of mental health systems, 9(1), p.5.
Social Justice Principle: Rights
The respective article examines the level of psychological trauma and distress and help seeking
behavior among the resettled refugees attending English tution classes in Australia. The research
was carried out with the help of questionnaires and Kesler’s Psychological distress scale towards
the sample taken from the demography. The samples and the interviewers were bilinguals. The
results were that those refugees who were unable to grasp the English language properly or were
weak in the respective language had problems and faced discriminations in receiving health care.
The outcome of the article proves the fact that Australian health care sectors are linguistically
biased up to a certain extent.
The respective article is relevant for my nursing practice because since I am a health care
professional and a practitioner, I would be able to grasp the problems of the refugees and the
marginalized societies in getting the healthcare they deserve and provide them with their
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requisites and necessities.
Citation 7:
Braithwaite, J., Hibbert, P.D., Jaffe, A., White, L., Cowell, C.T., Harris, M.F., Runciman,
W.B., Hallahan, A.R., Wheaton, G., Williams, H.M. and Murphy, E., 2018. Quality of health
care for children in Australia, 2012-2013. Jama, 319(11), pp.1113-1124.
Social Justice Principle: Rights
The respective article is intended to study the prevalence of quality care by the Australian
healthcare services to the children or the pediatric patients at age fifteen or below that. The
respective paper has focused on the CPG (Clinical Practice Guidelines) recommendations and
taken a handful of population of children. The outcome of the research was that the adherence gaps
and practice variation persist despite decades of development and endorsement of CPGs designed
to promote the uptake of evidence into routine practice and to standardize care. The paper
concludes by echoing the factor that the overall prevalence of adherence to quality health care
indicators is always not high and are inadequate.
The respective article is relevant to my nursing practice as it is an eye opener for me because, as a
healthcare professional, It is my duty to provide premium service to the patients, who are adults,
children as well as the aged. The article gives a deep introspection of the disparities in children’s
healthcare in the country so that I can meet the disparities and provide them with premium care.
Citation 8:
Thomas, S.L., Wakerman, J. and Humphreys, J.S., 2015. Ensuring equity of access to
primary health care in rural and remote Australia-what core services should be locally
available?. International journal for equity in health, 14(1), p.111.
Social Justice Principle: Rights and Equity
The respective article is intended to throw light on the population thresholds governing which
Primary Healthcare Services would be best provided by a resident health worker, and to outline
attendant implementation issues. The paper has thrown light on the fact that the rural and poor
Australians experience poor health status than those who stay in metropolitan cities of Australia.
The reason for such phenomenon can be described as inequitable access to primary healthcare
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services. The outcome of the article is that mental, maternal, public and sexual health of the remote
and rural and remote communities was obnoxious and needed change.
The respective article is relevant to my nursing practice because it provides me with the
insight of the disparities of equity in getting healthcare resources and the rights of getting
proper healthcare of the rural and remote Australians, most of them belonging to the
marginalized sector. Being a healthcare practitioner, it is my responsibility to know the
disparities and work for improving the conditions.
Citation 9:
Bennett, C.C., 2013. Are we there yet? A journey of health reform in Australia. Medical
Journal of Australia, 199(4), pp.251-255.
Social Justice Principle: Equity and Rights
The respective article, even though being a holistic introspection and analysis of the health reform
of Australia from the formation of the nation till date, has a section which talks about the
disparities of health care services among the population of Australia, bringing in the issues of
social justice principle, rights and equity. The paper reveals that there has been systematic denial of
the equality and rights of the marginalized sectors in getting access to proper health care, however,
many reforms have been taken up nowadays, such as the governmental schemes, for instance,
national Closing the Gap Strategy and the like.
The respective article is relevant to my nursing practices as it provides an insight of an all
round development of the healthcare sector of Australia with special reference to the Closing
the Gap Strategy for equitable health care for the marginalized people. As I am a healthcare
practitioner, the article is relevant because it provides me with a deep understanding about
the healthcare practices for the mainstream as well as the vulnerable.
Citation 10:
Clifford, A., McCalman, J., Bainbridge, R. and Tsey, K., 2015. Interventions to improve
cultural competency in health care for Indigenous peoples of Australia, New Zealand,
Canada and the USA: a systematic review. International Journal for Quality in Health Care,
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27(2), pp.89-98.
Social Justice Principle: Equity and Rights
The respective article is intended to throw light on the characteristics and reviews of the
methodological quality of interventions that are designed to improve cultural competency in health
care for the indigenous people of Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA. The respective
paper throws light on the fact that there has been disparities in healthcare practices between
indigenous and mainstream population. Therefore, cultural competency has to be incorporated in
the health care paradigm for the aboriginal population of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the
USA. The article has highlighted the importance of culturally competent healthcare for the ethnic
minorities as they possess different problems and different requisites than the mainstream patients.
As I am a healthcare practitioner, I have been subjected to different kinds of patients, from
mainstream to indigenous communities. The respective article has provided me with a deep
insight of the culturally competent healthcare practices which are apt for the Australian
aboriginal patients and how can I improve it in my healthcare settings.
Appendix A: Reference list (Not included in the word count)
Produce a reference list for 10 resources using the Harvard reference style
Bennett, C.C., 2013. Are we there yet? A journey of health reform in Australia. Medical
Journal of Australia, 199(4), pp.251-255.
Bismark, M.M. and Studdert, D.M., 2014. Governance of quality of care: a qualitative study
of health service boards in Victoria, Australia. BMJ Qual Saf, 23(6), pp.474-482.
Braithwaite, J., Hibbert, P.D., Jaffe, A., White, L., Cowell, C.T., Harris, M.F., Runciman,
W.B., Hallahan, A.R., Wheaton, G., Williams, H.M. and Murphy, E., 2018. Quality of health
care for children in Australia, 2012-2013. Jama, 319(11), pp.1113-1124.
Clifford, A., McCalman, J., Bainbridge, R. and Tsey, K., 2015. Interventions to improve
cultural competency in health care for Indigenous peoples of Australia, New Zealand,
Canada and the USA: a systematic review. International Journal for Quality in Health Care,
27(2), pp.89-98.
Freeman, T., Edwards, T., Baum, F., Lawless, A., Jolley, G., Javanparast, S. and Francis, T.,
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2014. Cultural respect strategies in Australian Aboriginal primary health care services:
beyond education and training of practitioners. Australian and New Zealand Journal of
Public Health, 38(4), pp.355-361.
Kelaher, M., Sabanovic, H., La Brooy, C., Lock, M., Lusher, D. and Brown, L., 2014. Does
more equitable governance lead to more equitable health care? A case study based on the
implementation of health reform in Aboriginal health Australia. Social Science & Medicine,
123, pp.278-286.
Kelaher, M.A., Ferdinand, A.S. and Paradies, Y., 2014. Experiencing racism in health care:
the mental health impacts for Victorian Aboriginal communities. Medical Journal of
Australia, 201(1), pp.44-47.
Slewa-Younan, S., Mond, J.M., Bussion, E., Melkonian, M., Mohammad, Y., Dover, H.,
Smith, M., Milosevic, D. and Jorm, A.F., 2015. Psychological trauma and help seeking
behaviour amongst resettled Iraqi refugees in attending English tuition classes in Australia.
International journal of mental health systems, 9(1), p.5.
Thomas, S.L., Wakerman, J. and Humphreys, J.S., 2015. Ensuring equity of access to
primary health care in rural and remote Australia-what core services should be locally
available?. International journal for equity in health, 14(1), p.111.
Zhao, Y., You, J., Wright, J., Guthridge, S.L. and Lee, A.H., 2013. Health inequity in the
northern territory, Australia. International journal for equity in health, 12(1), p.79.
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