Cultural Competency

Peer response Length: A minimum of 150 words per post, not including references Citations: At least one high-level scholarly reference in APA per post from within the last 5 year Peer Post: A common cultural belief that we come across today is the rejection of blood transfusions by Jehovah’s witnesses. Although many people may not understand the rejection of blood transfusions it must be respected as a part of their religious and cultural beliefs. Therefore, it is vital to find other lifesaving measures that can be used for Jehovah’s witnesses. While many Jehovah’s witnesses reject whole blood and packed red blood cells some do accept components of blood such as albumin, clotting factors, and immunoglobulins (Norfolk, 2013; Tachi, Yoneda, N., Yoneda, S., & Saito. 2018). Jehovah’s witnesses also do not normally object to hemodialysis, normovolaemic haemodilution, and intraoperative cell salvage (Norfolk, 2013). Furthermore, if a Jehovah’s witness is going into a known procedure iron infusions should also be considered to raise hemoglobin levels if the patient is anemic prior to the procedure (Tachi, Yoneda, N., Yoneda, S., & Saito. 2018). Lastly, it is important to respect the patient’s wishes if they do not wish to receive blood transfusions whether or not they are conscious. To administer a blood transfusion to a patient who has refused it would be considered assault and is unethical; even if it would save the patient’s life.  (Finfer, Howell, Miller, Willett, & Wilson-MacDonald. 1994) As future nurse practitioners (NPs) it is vital that we listen to our patient’s wishes and ensure we educate them on the risks and benefits of refusing treatment. It is also important to look for different avenues of treatment to respect their culture and beliefs such as looking for different treatments outside of blood transfusions for Jehovah’s witnesses. Therefore, NPs should be well versed in the cultural and religious beliefs of their patients to develop effective treatment plans while respecting their beliefs. By researching different avenues of evidence based treatment for patients who refuse blood transfusion or other therapy NPs can ensure they are delivering exceptional care for their patients while doing no harm to their mental or physical being.    References Finfer, S., Howell, S., Miller, J., Willett, K., & Wilson-MacDonald, J. (1994). Managing patients  who refuse blood transfusions: An ethical dilemma: Major trauma in two patients refusing blood transfusion. BMJ : British Medical Journal, 308(6941), 1423.  doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.308.6941.1423 Norfolk, D. (2013). Handbook of Transfusion Medicine. Retrieved August 06, 2020, from  https://www.transfusionguidelines.org/transfusion-handbook/12-management-of-patients-who-do-not-accept-transfusion/12-2-jehovah-s-witnesses-and-blood-transfusion Tachi, S., Yoneda, N., Yoneda, S., & Saito, S. (2018). Successful treatment of total placenta previa by multidisciplinary therapy in a  Jehovah’s witness patient who refused blood transfusions. BMJ Case Reports, 2018 doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bcr-2018-226486