Indigenous Patient Case Review
This scenario looks at a home situation where a sister tries to get the visiting PSW to help her advocate for better care with other visiting professionals (RNs, family doctor, OT, PT, lab technicians in those communities that provide house calls) for her older brother.
The PSW returns to her office and participates in a team meeting with other professionals to see how best they might help this patient.
In many community healthcare situations (whether Indigenous or not) the patient’s family caregivers and PSWs have the least influence on the care of a patient. Specifically in this simulation we will look at how a sister asks the PSW for advocacy advice on:
This scenario looks at a home situation where a sister tries to get the visiting PSW to help her advocate for better care with other visiting professionals (RNs, family doctor, OT, PT, lab technicians in those communities that provide house calls) for her older brother.
The PSW returns to her office and participates in a team meeting with other professionals to see how best they might help this patient.
In many community healthcare situations (whether Indigenous or not) the patient’s family caregivers and PSWs have the least influence on the care of a patient. Specifically in this simulation we will look at how a sister asks the PSW for advocacy advice on:
- how to get the family physician to agree to allow the patient’s family to perform regular smudging ceremonies and to allow him to use some traditional medicines. Smudging uses natural tobacco (no chemicals like in cigarette tobacco) plus other medicines such as sweet grass and sage to purify the patient’s room and the person’s body, energy, and aura. The doctor believes the smoke is harmful to the patient as she has lung disease.
- how to get the nurses, OTs, PTs, and Respiratory Therapist to appreciate the use of traditional medicines in a patient’s healing. The sacred medicines are sage, sweet grass, how to get the nurses, OTs, PTs, and Respiratory Therapist to appreciate the use of traditional medicines in a patient’s healing. The sacred medicines are sage, sweet grass, tobacco and cedar plus more traditional herbs and natural medicines. Patients tell their indigenous medicine people what western medicines they are taking, but are very hesitant to tell western professionals what traditional medicines they use because past experience tells them these are ignored or diminished by western professionals. This patient really wants to use them.