During Pregnancy And Childbirth

“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

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

Mexican-American culture has been characterized as a family-focused, community-oriented culture. Even second and third-generation Mexican-Americans place a higher value upon their relationships with others versus personal autonomy, in contrast with the dominant values of the United States. Living in extended family situations, or being influenced by extended family is much more common in Mexican culture than in other cultures. The core values of Mexican culture are said to be "familismo, personalismo, and respeto. Familismo involves placing the family ahead of individual interests, living near extended family, making collective decisions that involve one or more members of the family, and feeling responsible for and obligated to the family...Personalismo involves the building and valuing of interpersonal relationships...Respeto refers to the high regard for family and community members, especially for authority figures and the elderly" (Neff, Brabeck, Kearney 2006).

Although the security of Australia is grateful, the social inclusion was disregarded. (In text) described the lack of interpreting services in Australian hospitals and an absence of personal and communal care impacted on their experiences giving birth. Frequently, normal births became confusing or difficult for the midwife to manage, and with a language barrier it can become exacerbated due to stress of the women. (In text) have researched in responses from the women’s culture can vary from healthcare to healthcare professionals, with younger women displaying preparedness to report and identify discrimination. They believe the problems lie within the health care, coupled with the inability of women who require attention, not within the healthcare system itself, but more likely individual social attitudes which are the women’s rights to be treated (in text). Stress, depression, hopelessness and feelings of hostility can play a part from the language barriers. Without understanding each other the midwife and women would not achieve a good professional relationship. Without the rapport, labour and birth is compromised by the frustrations on the midwife and women due to the language barrier. This compromised by the lack of verbal

These religious and spiritual influences play a major role in the Hispanics health, illness and daily life. In much a similar manner, the Native American Indian family adopts the cultural beliefs to associate with illness and health. They believe that a person’s state of exists when he or she exists in harmony with nature and sickness occurs when an imbalance between the natural or supernatural forces and the sick individual exists (Askim-Lovseth & Aldana, 2010). Traditional health believes and practices involving healing ceremonies and rituals restore balance when illness happens. “These can be conducted by their traditional medicine men or women, who are thought to have compelling powers, the ability to read minds, and know-how in concocting medicine, drugs and poisons.” For the white young family, the cultural belief of invincibility and youth are the driving force behind health prevention (Askim-Lovseth & Aldana, 2010). “Focus on the temporary is regularised, while thinking about health is assigned to an adult person where family accountabilities pertain.” Protecting against illness or disease does not feature into their daily lives. Disease or illness is something that is insubstantial and distant, and unimaginable to their young, resilient bodies and thus irrelevant (Edelman & Mandle, 2010).

Family is a very important element in the Mexican society. The majority of the family units are large especially out of the big cities and with traditional roles per gender. The Mexican family homes are classified as nuclear, expanded and composite; the nuclear families encompass all those formed by the couple with or without children, or one of the parents with children and represents the 67.6% of the total Mexican family homes. This is the main institution that will cover the basic needs of their members (affective, food, economic, socialization) and within it certain socially expected patterns of behavior.

The cultural health beliefs are specific for the Arabs with the main concern of the family. The family’s role is to indulge the sick person and take responsibilities off his or her shoulders (Salimbene et al., 2000 pg. 135). According to Meleis (2005 pg. 52), the family is central in both society and culture. When a woman is pregnant, the woman must be satisfied because “it is believed that the unborn child may develop a birthmark in the shape of the unsatisfied craving” (Salimbene et al., 2000). In the Arab culture, pain is harmful and should be controlled because the family does not want to see the patient

The findings of the interviews are identified in the table below (information including but not limited to what is listed). These families of different cultures ascribed their health traditions to different things. The African American family states that their health traditions are passed down by elders (grandparents), of both sexes. The Mexican American family ascribes their traditions to the women of the family, stating that it is a female responsibility to pass down traditions regarding heath. The Caucasian American family states that they received their knowledge of health from what is or has been proved by science, and usually each mother of the household is responsible for the health of the family.

The United States is a diverse accumulation of cultural backgrounds which can often set the stage for feelings of confusion, anger, mistrust, and a host of other emotions when dissimilar cultures disagree. Cultural competence in nursing can help eliminate these barriers and provide a platform for nursing to follow in the quest to understand a patient's culture and background. When a nurse takes the time to learn about a given culture prior to providing care, it conveys she respects the patient's right to their beliefs, customs, and culture. It does not necessarily mean the nurse agrees with their practices but

In today’s society, it is very important for the healthcare professional to be educated about the culture of their patients. It can be seen that the number of patients who are Muslim are increasing throughout the healthcare system. It is challenging for healthcare workers to care for the needs of Muslim patients when they don’t understand their cultural beliefs. Muslims don’t necessarily have the same health beliefs, outcomes, or priorities that their providers have, therefore making it more difficult to come to a final healthcare decision (Al-Oraibi, 2009.) “This intercultural gap in understanding between clients and providers may result in poor care services and low levels of satisfaction” (Al-Oraibi, 2009.) Muslims are

In the profession of nursing, an essential aspect is the ability for a nurse to provide culturally competent care to each one of his/her patients. This requires the nurse to understand how a person’s culture can affect the way they care for them. The focus of this paper will be on a model put together to assist nurses in providing care to culturally diverse patients, specifically caring for patients a part of the Chinese culture in the children and family transition of life. The summary and application of the six phenomena in the relation to the Chinese culture followed by the nursing implications of those cultural variances are described below.

The Mexican culture is very family centered. The extended family is just as important as the immediate family and provides stability within. The

Today when people move across continents with the help of technology their culture and heritage moves along with them. Almost each and every continent is populated with people from different nations who have diverse traditions and cultures. Thus knowledge of health traditions and culture plays a vital role in nursing. People from different cultures have a unique view on health and illness. Culture-specific care is a vital skill to the modern nurse, as the United States continues to consist of many immigrants who have become assimilated into one culture. I interviewed three families of different cultures: - Indian (my culture), Hispanic and Chinese. Let us see the differences in health traditions between these cultures.

The role and definition of family can vary from one culture to another. Generally speaking, the culture in the United States places a lot of emphasis on individuality and personal freedom. In many cultures, the family unit has a very strict and defined hierarchy. Often the Father is seen as the head of the household and is responsible for much of the decision making. This can include decisions concerning the health care of a family member. It could also result in reluctance for the head of the family to place himself in a position of relying on others for care, a perceived position of weakness. In many cultures, the family goes beyond the nuclear family, and extends to the community, friends and neighbors. These are strongly held beliefs, and we must refrain from judging them as right or wrong based on our own culture. Rather, weneed to find ways to work within the framework of the family structure of the patient. ( Falvo, pp.186-187)

India is a nation of many different individuals, each with their own beliefs and way of life. The different beliefs that are held by these people and the traditions they follow can have a significant impact on how they view modern healthcare. The beliefs and moral values which are a part of human nature can have positive impacts on an individual, but can also bind them and cause negative impacts on mental and physical health (Worthington & Gogne, 2011). It is necessary for health professionals to be aware of the cultural beliefs and influences so that they can effectively provide healthcare services. A lack of cultural competence in care leads to poor patient outcomes, low compliance, and higher disparities regardless of the services and systems available ("Diversity & Cultural Competency in Health Care Settings").