Cultural Group

Introduction

People in every workplace talk about organizational culture, that mysterious word that characterizes the qualities of a work environment. One of the key questions and assessments, when employers interview a prospective employee, explores whether the candidate is a good cultural fit. Culture is difficult to define, but you generally know when you have found an employee who appears to fit your culture. Culture is the environment that surrounds you at work all of the time. Culture is a powerful element that shapes your work enjoyment, your work relationships, and your work processes. But, culture is something that you cannot actually see, except through its physical manifestations in your work place.

Medical Examiners

The Medical Examiners are employees of the Public Health Department. The Health Department has a strong mission to be culturally competent and sensitive. In addition, they believe that they can best serve families by being aware of their specific cultural attitudes surrounding death. They have experienced certain difficulties that appear to be culturally based. It is not uncommon for families to oppose performing an autopsy based on cultural or religious attitudes or beliefs (Owens, 2015).

There are times when a Medical Examiner engages in religious ceremonies, generally that aren't called for by Americans. For example, the Medical Examiner sometimes helps erect a small shrine with candles and incense and plays tapes of chanting for the families of a deceased Buddhist. Buddhists represent a group that the Medical Examiner accommodates fairly frequently by allowing simple religious ceremonies, such as shrines, to be on site. Sometimes, Latin American Catholics want a cross or other emblem left with the body. Native Americans may have feathers or sage left with the deceased. Rather than a specifically religious item, an American family may leave some sort of memorial token, for example, a granddaughter's drawing left with the body of a...