Cultural Diversity For A Haitian Client

“Health is influenced by culture and beliefs” (NRS-429V, 2011, p. 1). In order for the nurse to properly care for the patient, she must know and understand the patient’s culture. “Cultural care is a comprehensive model that includes the assessment of a client’s cultural needs, beliefs, and health care practices” (NRS-429V, 2011, p. 1). It is not enough to just know where the patient lives or where he came from. The nurse must embrace the concept of cultural competence and cultural awareness. This requires not only the awareness of the cultural beliefs and values of their patients, but also

The poor state of maternal health has spurred Maternal Life International- a non-profit organization based in Montana- to direct their efforts for better maternal and neonatal healthcare at Haiti. Their objective is to build family health offices in the country to assist pregnant women and newborns.

Health in all cultures is an important aspect of life. A person’s cultural background, religion and/or beliefs, greatly influences a person’s health and their response to medical care (Spector, 2004). These diverse cultures guide decisions made in daily life; what food eaten, living arrangements made, medications taken and medical advice listened to. A nurse must be knowledgeable and respectful of these diverse cultures and understand their importance when providing care. This understanding helps to build a strong nurse/patient relationship, increasing patient compliance, which ensures positive outcomes are met. Patients who are satisfied

During clinical time in the nursing program there are many opportunities for students to explore their new found nursing skills. While engaging in patient care responsibilities there are many languages, customs, values, lifestyles, beliefs, and behaviors that will differ from their own. Each patient may need healthcare providers to consider certain aspects in order to provide culturally competent care. There are many cultures that have migrated to the United States over the years including the people of Haiti. There are many aspects of their healthcare ideals that may need to be considered while providing healthcare in the hospital setting. This cultural assessment will consider the healthcare matters of an 81-year-old woman on the

The decision making is coming from the top, from the elite, from those people who do not really understand what is happening at the bottom, where most of the people are. Furthermore, Haiti seems to be plagued by corruption where the top take president. This structural inequality is even seen in the local health initiatives such as that of the Centre pour Development et la Santé (CDS), or family planning center. Maternowska sheds writes about the hierarchy that is in place, which have profound effects on the health experiences shared by the community. Instead of having a center that is helpful to women, the staff, especially those at the top which include Doctors. They ignore those who speak the Creole dialect and not French. The staff tends to have no respect and there is no quality of care. What was very shocking, is the fact that Haitian women are being used as test subjects for clinical trials of birth control methods. Even worse, the clients have to pay for these

In order to deliver nursing care to different cultures, nurses are expected to understand and provide culturally competent health care to diverse individuals. Culturally competent care is tailored to the specific needs of each client, while incorporating the individual’s beliefs and values (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2006, p. 90). By being culturally competent, nurses are able to help improve health outcomes by using cultural knowledge and specific skills in selecting interventions that are specific to each client (Stanhope & Lancaster). Therefore, nurses “should perform a cultural assessment on every client with whom they interact with” (Stanhope &

With the large increase multicultural population in the United States, nurses encounter patients with differences in healthcare beliefs, values and customs. To provide adequate nursing care, nurses must be aware of these differences. They must respect and acknowledge the patient’s culture. To do this, nurses need education on cultural competence to ensure patient satisfaction and better patient outcomes.

My name is Romane Talleyrand. I was born in a west indie island, Haiti. The west indie islanders specifically the Haitian people have a very distinct culture in regard to food and to their health. As mentioning of the culture, one of the primary sources of remedy is herbal. Haitians consider health to be a personal responsibility and self-treat as a way to promote health or prevent disease. Home remedies are typically used first before seeking help, and may include herbal preparations, massage, or over the counter medications. Haitians only seek medical care when it becomes clear that an illness requires attention. Most of the Haitian people would go to see a physician after all the attempts of using herbal medicine have been exhausted. There

As nurses, we adjust our care accordingly to each patient. It is vital that we not only assess our patients physically, but assess all aspects of their lives, including their cultures. For this paper I will discuss the key components of a comprehensive cultural assessment. I will also choose two of the key components and discuss my own culture and how it affects my attitude to culturally diverse care. Last, I will identify two nursing diagnoses that would relate to a patient with a culture other than my own, as well as give proper interventions.

health professionals is not unusual and is partially based on the turbulent history of foreign occupation of their country. Mental health professionals must become aware of their own personal cultural prejudices and value cultural diversity including, “interpret nuances in meaning”(Cite). Others Cultures might seek the proper help they need while Haitian will seek help from a spiritual perspective by worshiping the lord for example.

Throughout this paper I will be pulling information from the Giger and Davidhizar Transcultural Assessment Model. It is pertinent for health care workers to be familiar with this model because of the growing affects that culture has on a patient’s view of disease prevention and health restoration. This model focuses on six cultural phenomena: communication, time, space, social organization, environmental control, and biological variations. It is important for nurses to utilize this tool while performing assessments on patients because of the substantial effects that each one has on a patient’s perspective. Every person is unique and knowing that no one perspective is universal will aid the nurse in treating each patient with culturally competent care.

A nurse can develops cultural knowledge by educating herself or himself about the world view of other cultures and ethnic groups (Creasia & Parker, 2007) about diseases and health conditions, and variations in drug metabolism (Lee, et al, 2006). Some of the ways a nurse can acquire knowledge by reading about different cultures, attending continuing education courses on cultural competence, and attending cultural diversity conferences (Lee, et al, 2006). In clinical setting, a nurse should ask patients how they wish to be addressed. Never make assumptions about individuals or their beliefs. Try to ask questions about cultural practices in a thoughtful manner. Always find out what the client knows about health problems and treatments. In addition, show respect for the client’s support group, for example family, friends, religious leaders, etc.Understand how men and women fit in the client’s society. In some cultures, the oldest male is the decision-maker for the family, even for treatment decisions. If we know who the decision makers are in the family, we can work more efficiently with them to get the better outcomes. This will take time; eventually, nurses will possess a comprehensive knowledge in different cultures, if these are accomplished (Hagman, 2007).

This data allows the community/public health nurse can make some inferences about possible health care needs. As of 2013, Haiti has population of 10,317,000 people. According to the World Bank, Haiti has a population density of 364.04 people per square kilometer as of 2011. It is densely populated in urban areas and sparsely populated in rural areas (Haiti Data). In 1960 it had a population of only 3.9 million people. The growth was 167% during the last 50 years. According to World Bank, 95% of the inhabitants are black (mulattos) and the remaining 5% are whites (Haiti Data). Life expectancy at birth as of 2014 is 63.18 years; males are 61.77 years and females are 64.60 years (Haiti Demographics Profile n.d.). The infant mortality rate is 49.43 deaths per 1,000 live births (Haiti Demographics Profile n.d.). The median age for males is 22 years old and for females it is 22.4 (Haiti Demographics Profile n.d.). The sex ratio at birth is 1.01:1 male to female. At 15-24 years the ratio is equal with a rate of 1:1 male to female (Haiti Demographics n.d.). At age 55-64 the ratio is .99:1 male to female. At age 65 or over the ratio is .98:1 male to female (Haiti Demographics Profile n.d.). It is evident that as age increases, the male ratio tends to decrease. Could health disparities play a part in this? Yes

The Theory of Culture Care Diversity and Universality is founded on the principle the compassion is the crux of nursing (Black, 2014, p.277). In order to provide care effectively, one must demonstrate empathy toward his or her patient. Additionally, Leininger’s theory calls for transcultural nursing, which is centered on culture as the basis for care delivery; essentially, it is the provision of culturally competent care (Narayanasamy, 1999). To allow the nurse to assess a patient culturally, Leininger devised the sunrise model, which encompasses multiple traits specific to an individual’s cultural background.

The earthquake also affected the women that are residing in the community reproductive health. The conditions that the women are giving birth in are not always safe and adequate, especially after the earthquake. To help give the women what she needs during delivery an organization is distributing “reproductive health kits to assist [the women] and their families to deliver their babies in the absence of medical staff to support them” (Daniel, 2010, p. 102). There are many steps that are being taken in Haiti to help improve women’s health especially when it concerns reproductive health. By educating and improving the health of the women it will with any luck improve the health of the children in Haiti as well. By improving the women’s health it will help to decrease the cases of malnutrition in the children of Haiti as well.