Nursing Implications for Treating "Kanser" in Filipino Patients

Abstract

As the ethnic face of America changes, so too does the population seen by palliative care nurses. The holistic care provided by nurses demands knowledge of the cultural beliefs and traditions of individual patients. This article provides a description of nursing implications for the palliative care of Filipino clients and presents pertinent cultural implications for three issues: managing the diagnosis, pain and death, and dying. These three aspects of diagnosis, pain, and death are very specific to care of kanser patients. Kanser is the word for cancer in the native Filipino language, Tagalog. By exploring the nursing implications and Filipino customs, palliative care nurses can broaden their worldview of Filipino clients and learn new methods in providing culturally sensitive, pertinent, and quality care.