Cultural Awareness And Delivery Of Appropriate Care

Overall, the health of Americans has improved over the past several decades. However, there is still an inconsistency between the health of various racial groups, minorities, and Caucasians (Cook, Kosoko-Lasaki, & O'Brien, R., 2005). Bakullari et al. (2014) report that specific research related to patient safety and racial and ethnic differences in HAIs is also lacking. As a result of these discrepancies, Bakullari et al. (2014) implemented a study to determine the rate and occurrence of HAIs in six specific racial/ethnic groups (white non-Hispanic, black non-Hispanic, Asian, Hispanic, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and other). What they found was that Hispanic and Asian populations had a significantly higher occurrence of HAIs than white non-Hispanic populations (Bakullari et al., 2014).

Stage 4 focuses on the rationale for providing culturally competent health care to refugee's. Cultural competence relates to a set of behaviours or attitudes that enable the health care system to provide a high quality of equitable care to all groups within society (Germov, 2014). Based on the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) a refugee is defined as someone who

It is significant for the medical provider to note that each individuals have their own cultural preferences of interactions and roles. The Native People have their own social customs; however some of these are typecasts and might not be as shared and many of the medical provider are familiar with those of their persons. Demonstrate great respect to the elderly. In several cases the elders are not familiarized to the new healthcare facilities, the new environments and noises, the caregivers and types treatment; for various of them it might be their first visit to a medical facility, it is significant to ease their awareness and explicate procedures thoroughly. The Silence is respected and is not certainly a negative behavior. Occasionally the

Our community is composed of culturally diverse people, and nurses have to take care of these people when they need care. That being said, nurses deal with conflicts of culture, values, or beliefs with their patients. The values conflict I have encountered was when the wife of my dying resident verbalized to no suctioning despite the comfort care orders she agreed and signed. Her husband had increased in secretions and despite the medications administered and oral care provided, his increased in secretions had not ceased causing blockage to his airways thereby making him gasp for air and in pain. His wife believed that suctioning causes pain and offers no benefits. According to Blais and Hayes (2011), I have to “show respect for the client’s support people” (p. 390) although the wife’s belief is not congruent with the

From the PowerPoint, Culturally Congruent Nursing Care Application to Family and Health, I learned what culture is and that it is a process. The number of immigrants in the United States is increasing and by 2050, it is predicted that they will make up over half the population. I also learned current immigration trends in Minnesota (Schoon, 2016). A trend I found to be interesting, “14% of immigrants hold an advanced degree, compared to 11% of US-born born adults” (Schoon, 2016, slide 9). When I say, culture is a process I mean that it is something you can learn (enculturation), acquire (acculturation), give up one and take a different (assimilation), or take two or more (biculturalism) (Schoon, 2016). Culture shapes family life by influencing

Cultural Competency can be described as one’s ability to learn about cultures other than their own. It speaks to the value one places on diversity and their desire to foster an open exchange of ideas between dissimilar cultures. While in a perfect world, cultural competency would be of heightened importance in all aspects of life, there are certain industries where cultural competency factor more heavily; one of those being health care. This is especially true in areas with increased diversities of cultures, ethnic groups and a variety of languages.

Cultural competency is necessary to provide effective patient-centered care, improve patient outcome, and reduce healthcare disparity. When healthcare providers approach patient care entirely from their own cultural perspectives and beliefs, their decisions and behaviors can negatively impact patient care. Evaluating and acknowledging my own beliefs, values, biases, and prejudices allows me, as a healthcare professional, to better understand patients’ cultural needs and values.

Reflection on one’s cultural heritage requires knowledge and understanding of the concept of cultural heritage itself. When assessing my cultural heritage, I first examined the factors that are identified as contributors to one’s heritage. According the Joint Commission (2010), culture can be defined as the, “integrated patterns of human behavior that include the language, thoughts, communications, actions, customs, beliefs, values, and institutions of racial, ethnic, religious, or social groups” (p.91). After reflecting on these patterns, I concluded that my ethnicity and religious upbringing were the two components of my heritage that most greatly affect my behaviors.

Reflection on one’s cultural heritage requires knowledge and understanding of the concept of cultural heritage itself. When assessing my cultural heritage, I first examined the factors that are identified as contributors to one’s heritage. According the Joint Commission (2010), culture can be defined as the, “integrated patterns of human behavior that include the language, thoughts, communications, actions, customs, beliefs,

While existing in a different cultural may not directly define a level of health status, the intrapersonal differences within the culture could be considered important (Biddle, 2010).
With some cultures holding levels of connection to the land, this may cause certain communities to seclude themselves to a particular area, which effects the level of accessibility to health services. There are also apparent gaps between cultures in terms of employment, as the workplace is predominantly originated out of non-indigenous culture.
A lack of employment existing under indigenous cultures leads to less resources for the individuals to maintain health (Biddle, 2010).

Adapting to different cultural beliefs and practices requires flexibility and a respect for others view points. Cultural competence means to really listen to the patient, to find out and learn about the patient's beliefs of health and illness. To provide culturally appropriate care we need to know and to understand culturally influenced health behaviors. However, becoming culturally competent is a much more daunting task. Culture (and ethnicity) often influences a patient’s perceptions of health and illness. Therefore, if healthcare providers appear insensitive to cultural diversity, their actions may negatively affect the quality of the healthcare that they provide.

I agree that much of culturally competent and sensitive care is learned most often painfully. It is impossible to know what 'to do' or what 'to say' until we are placed in the situation ourselves. We often live within a 'bubble' so to speak, surrounded by the people we know, the values we are taught, and our exposure to or lack thereof to experiences. However, I believe that as nurses we are responsible for the health and wellness of all people not only the ones we are used to. It has been shown that lack of experience hinders safe and effective care, especially when cultural knowledge is unknown (Boi, 2014). A recurrent issue is often a language barrier, exacerbated by a lack of knowledge of the patient's culture (Boi, 2014). I also agree

The approach that I found to be more interesting was the cultural approach. This approach focuses on the ideas, beliefs, and values of a group when it pertains to this group's health, such as ways of explaining diseases and fighting them off. Within this approach there are different sectors that medical anthropologist can look into such as belief and ethnomedical systems, social construction of illness, healers, etc. What I found to be interesting is the aspect of healers within different cultures and the social construction of illness. I had a brief understanding that some cultures practiced differently than what I am used too, but I never understood how. For people who live in the United States when they have a cold they go to doctor who

Showing support and respect for cultural health beliefs creates a better interpersonal relationship between patient and physician. When implementing a wellness plan for the patient to follow the physician should take into consideration the beliefs of the patient. Health care providers should seek and obtain knowledge of their patient’s diverse cultures. Obtaining the knowledge of other cultures can be an valuable skill.

Performing a cultural assessment and cultural analysis gives the nurse the opportunity to identify health care needs and provide culturally sensitive care. Patients have a right to their cultural beliefs, values, and practices, and that these factors should be understood, respected, and considered when giving culturally competent care.