Culturally Diverse School Nurses: A Case Study

Muslims are members of the religion Islam, which is the second largest religion in the world. Muslims do not belong to a particular race, culture, region, or nationality, and can come from any part of the world. The Muslim population in my area has quickly increased and I recognize as a nurse I must learn more about this culture to appropriately care for their specific cultural needs. School nurses have a professional obligation to learn as much as possible about their culturally diverse students, as well as the similarities and differences in care within a culture (Ciprietti & Fidura, 2005). A culturally diverse school nurse would know that Muslims follow strict dietary customs, have daily prayer rituals and believe in Fatalism. This is important because during Ramadan Muslim students fast from sunrise to sunset including pharmaceutical …show more content…
Fasting from food and medications can lead to hypoglycemia, fatigue, and dehydration. It is the school nurse's responsibility to provide culturally competent care and by doing that the A, B, C method can be utilized. A is for attitude for which the school nurse must be open to "seeing, valuing, and appreciating another person's view of the world, which may be different from the one you know" (Heaslip, 2015, p. 421). B is for behavior, which validates and respects cultural beliefs. And C is for communication that "can be achieved with the simple question 'Is there anything that you think I need to know about you or your beliefs in order to work with you?'" (Heaslip, 2015, p. 421). Providing students with the A, B, C assessment tool the school nurse can approach many culturally different people without being highly knowledgeable about them (Heaslip, 2015). The key to this type of assessment is the sensitive and respectful