CNA Practice Test – Spiritual And Cultural Issues

It is your patient’s right to practice his or her own self-chosen religious beliefs. You or your patient’s family members should not be involved in making decisions regarding the patient’s religious belief system.

Working in a medical facility requires Nursing Assistants to treat patients with diverse customs and beliefs. All staff members should be aware of these differences so that each individual patient is treated with the same level of respect.

Your patients and their family members should always have the freedom and privacy to practice and express their religious and spiritual beliefs.  Denying their desire to do so violates their rights.

Nursing assistants should always allow their patients to talk about and discuss their spiritual and religious beliefs. All of the other choices honour that freedom.

Religion is not a means to separate your patients from their families. In fact, it can be a means of bringing families closer together.

Allowing your patients to talk about their spiritual beliefs, whether you share the same beliefs or not, allows for comfort and empathy.  This shows your patients that you care.  All of the answers are correct.

Participation in any type of activity can only benefit your patients and increase their well-being.  When your patients spend time taking part in activities, this is not the CNA’s opportunity to take a break.

Talking slowly or loudly can be considered quite offensive. Your colleagues should never take over your duties simply because you are feeling uncomfortable.  Always try and recognize if and when you are engaging in stereotyping and avoidance and always work to improve this.

All of the choices are negative ways of dealing with cultural differences except for learning key words in your patient’s primary language or using visual aids, gestures and prompts.

All of the above options are important factors to consider when working with your patients and their families who are from different cultural backgrounds.

Letting your patient know that you can contact a spiritual leader is the most appropriate action for you to take.  Avoiding the issue doesn’t aid your patient in any way. Should your patient want to talk about their diagnosis, you should create an opportunity and comfortable environment to do so.  Although you may have good intentions by sharing your own beliefs and prayers, this is not really helpful and does not put your patient’s needs first.

The above statement, which was quoted from the article “Cultural Diversity Best Practices” by Killian and Waite, implies that with more healthcare workers from diverse cultural backgrounds, healthcare teams will need to start working together with people who may have differing belief systems and values than your own.  This will not change anyone on the team’s job roles, however it may alter the approach that the entire team could take in order to accomplish the tasks that they are faced with.

There are many care procedures that require touch and physical closeness.  A CNA should always explain the care and medical procedures clearly, so that the patient understands them and is aware of what to expect. It is definitely important to guard your patient’s private information, but only speaking to your patient when there is nobody else around is not very realistic and there is no need to exclude your patient’s family members from any routine or friendly conversation.

Finally, it is important to include your patient’s family members in the patient’s care as much as possible, however this is fully the CNA’s responsibility and this responsibility should not be shifted onto anybody else.

Speaking in an overly loud voice is unnecessary and it just separates your patient from the way your other patients are treated.  Maintaining a physical distance from your patient is not always possible with many care procedures and would only create a sense of distance in the rapport and trust that you should be trying to establish with your patient. Learning about your patient’s culture is appropriate, but learning everything possible about your patient’s culture is not very realistic. Good communication helps you and your patient to establish understanding and acceptance of differences.

Checking to see if your patient has any questions can open the doors to communication and this can foster empathy. Asking your patient if they wish to see a counsellor may not be the best way to begin communicating with your patient, as they might think that you don’t want to help them or that you believe that they are beyond your level of care. Asking about your patient’s daily food intake doesn’t have anything to do with their emotional or spiritual needs.  Finally, asking your patient about their family visits may require you to then impose upon the patient’s family members more than they are willing to give and in the end, your patient will be disappointed.

People of Asian descent, can sometimes be unemotional with regards to pain, so it is imperative that you assess their non-verbal language. Nursing assistants cannot perform official pain assessments, however they must report any pain complaints from their patients to the nurse, so that the nurse can administer pain meds as required. Telling your patient that you are proud of him – while this may be with the best of intentions on your part, it may come off as condescending and it may also prevent him from reporting any future pain to you. Letting the nurse know that your patient needs pain medication or assuming that your patient is no longer experiencing any pain, are both situations where you are making assumptions about your patient without speaking directly to him.