The Peyote Way: Implications for Culture Care Theory

The development and provision of culturally sensitive and meaningful nursing care is a challenging yet essential element in our rapidly changing health care environment. This article describes the use of the theory of Culture Care to assess, understand, and plan care for an aphasic Navajo man who followed very traditional ways. It is an example of how nursing praxis can be applied to a clinical setting. A description of a Navajo peyote ceremony serves to illustrate the importance of incorporating traditional healing practices into nursing and collaborative care for individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds. It also describes how the participation in the Native American Church benefitted the client and his family. By using the Culture Care theory, the authors were able to make predictions about the influences of a culture specific expression, the peyote ceremony, had on the client's care.