A nurse is caring for a patient who is grieving after her spouse died suddenly and unexpectedly from cardiac arrest. The patient tells the nurse that the spouse's death is due to supernatural forces. What is the nurse's best response?

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3. Some common health problems are attributed to different cultural beliefs. Among some members of the African American culture, sudden and unexplained death may be seen as being caused by voodoo or supernatural forces. To provide culturally competent care to the patient, the nurse should attempt to clarify the patient's beliefs or feelings. The nurse will not tell the patient that supernatural forces are either fictional or the cause of the spouse's death; both of these responses do not allow the patient to describe to the nurse the reasons why the patient feels that supernatural forces are to blame. The nurse should also not ask the patient why she refuses to believe that her spouse died due of heart disease; this response does not validate the patient's spiritual beliefs.

A Nurse Is Caring for a Patient Who Is Grieving