Cultural and Spiritual Beliefs and Practices of Mormons
The Mormons are a cultural group in the US that gets their identity from their religion that revolves around the teachings of their prophet Joseph Smith (Cranney, 2017). The members of the cultural groups only allow individuals from their religious affiliations to attend to health-related issues and illnesses. Based mostly in Utah, the group relies on several biblical scriptures to justify their choice of healthcare access and other essential components related to the healthcare of the members. From its conception, the Mormons have had great antipathy towards individual physicians from other religions (Ali, 2016). Therefore, they encourage the droves of their members to pursue health-related careers so that they could provide healthcare services to the group based on the teachings of the religion and its values.
However, the most meaningful cultural and spiritual value is how the group ties mental health and the interventions related to the illness to religion and the role of the psychotherapist (Cranney, 2017). According to the Mormons, the responses made by the psychotherapists in dealing with mental health or other medical practitioners are akin to restoring the patient to a new self (Stahl & Emanuel, 2017). Again, these interventions by the medical practitioners are means for restoring the ability of the patient to relate to others and God as well. Thus, according to the Mormons, any medical intervention in both the mental and physical health of an individual is a welcome intervention that is meant to help the patient realize self-discovery, a method of increasing its ability to relate to others and God.
In that regard, as an advanced nurse, knowledge is essential for promoting practice through discerning constructive cultural beliefs and aligning them to multiple medical interventions to attain desirable health outcomes. By appreciating the existing boundary between the individuals in the society, the advanced nurse would put in place interventions that promote client-skill building and encouragement of the development of appropriate skills without hindering the patient’s sense of morals and spirituality.