Cultural issues in palliative care.
OBJECTIVE
To review the common issues at the end of life across cultures and the measures that can be taken to dress these issues.


METHODS
Published articles and textbook chapters.


CONCLUSIONS
Culture plays a critical role in how patients, families, and health care providers view the end of life. Cultural competence in end-of-life care includes knowledge and experience and working in cross-cultural situations.


CONCLUSIONS
Increased culture-specific knowledge will provide nurses with a basis for beginning exploration of individual or family beliefs.
Kemp
Charles
C
Louise Herrington School of Nursing Baylor University, Dallas, TX 75214, USA. Charles_Kemp@baylor.edu
D016223:Advance Directives; D001293:Attitude to Death / Q000208:ethnology; D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology; D003144:Communication Barriers; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D005190:Family / Q000208:ethnology; D005655:Funeral Rites; D006117:Grief; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology / Q000451:nursing; D024802:Nurse's Role; D009730:Nursing Assessment; D009859:Oncology Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012067:Religion; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement; D016746:Transcultural Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration*