Medicine as a frontier: the foreign multipathological patient

Abstract

A Moroccan 66-year-old female patient arrives in the hospital, where the physicians make the diagnosis of hepatic encephalopathy, HBV-related cirrhosis and decompensated diabetes. This article points out the problems and the aims that a good nursing management must face in the case of a multipathological patient who doesn’t speak italian. In this case the difficulty consists also in the understanding and the acceptance of a new life-style by the patient and her family, due to the chronicity of the diseases. The team work, helped by the assistance of the italian-speaking caregiver, taking into account the clinical condition and the culture and religion related needs, let the patient understand the therapeutic schedule to follow at home and obtained a good compliance by the patient and by her family.