Heritage Assessment Essay

It is midmorning on the cardiac unit where you work, and you are getting a new patient. G.P., a 60-

Emotional Support and encouraging involvement of family and friends- Listening to patient with undivided attention .Providing clear, timely and meaningful information regarding the illness. Providing enough information regarding the patient’s illness. Respecting and acknowledging the family and friends’ support in patient care and providing supportive environment.

In the poem Heritage by Linda Hogan, Hogan uses the tone of the speaker to demonstrate the shame and hatred she has toward her family, but also the desire for her family’s original heritage. The speaker describes each family member and how they represent their heritage. When describing each member, the speaker’s tone changes based on how she feels about them. The reader can identify the tone by Hogan’s word choices and the positive and negative outlooks on each member of the family.

This poem is titled “Heritage” and is by Countee Cullen (for Harold Jackman). The social issue that motivated Cullen to write Heritage is the oppression that blacks faced and their eagerness to go back to the place that their ancestors were taken from. In the poem Cullen reflects the urge to reclaim the African arts, during this time, the Harlem Renaissance, blacks called this movement negritude. Cullen depicts the negro speaking on the view of Africa, by the all negroes. In the poem, Cullen uses auditory imagery, organic imagery, and visual imagery.

Many people have seen the increase of immigrants coming to the United States. “Census 2000 measured a U.S. population of 281.4 million, including 1.2 million who reported and Arab ancestry” (de la Cruz and Brittingham, 2000). Arab Americans are those people who speak or are descendents of Arabic-speaking populations. As doctors and caregivers continue to provide care to those that speak English, communication between them is easy. But when this simple task is changed when there is a patient from a different culture, it produces challenges that both parties have to overcome. Doctors and caregivers have to increase their cultural awareness and sensitivity so that there is a good

* Confidentiality – the steps that are taken when people’s information is not kept confidential and on a need to know basis

During my Med-Surg clinical, I was assigned to a patient who was a 94 year female that had several medical conditions. The situation that ensued was difficulty communicating with her, since she did not speak English. Not only did the patient not speak English, but was only alert to herself, as well as extremely confused. As a result, being able to provide effective and quality care became a challenge. The reason for her admission was hyperkalemia, UTI, congestive heart failure (CHF) and acute renal failure (ARF). Unfortunately, the patient had other comorbidities that affected her well being such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, atrial fibrillation, BPPV, CAD, s/p stent, DVT, CKD, stage 4 sacral decubitus ulcer, cholecystectomy, hip fracture and LE fasciotomy DVT.

When clinically assessing patients in care settings, it is paramount for health professionals to elicit pertinent information that could be crucial for delivery of care. This is particularly important in the United States because the increasing diversity in racial and ethnic composition of the population has presented cultural challenges that care givers must navigate to provide culturally competent service. Cultural competence during delivery of care requires sensitivity to the cultural, social, and linguistic needs of patients (Betancourt, Green, Carrillo, 2002). As a consequence, care providers need cultural assessment tools that will enable them

practices based on the traditions of their predecessors. In these societies, standards of behavior are

Culture is a pattern of behavior and values shared by an ethnic group. Cultural heritage is a set of traditions within the culture that is hand down from the older generation to the younger generation within the family. These traditions influence the family’s decisions in relation to their diet, education, daily living activities, religious beliefs and practices and also health and illness beliefs. In this paper, the author will focus on the usefulness of applying a heritage assessment in evaluating the needs of a person as a whole. Three different cultures including authors will be discussed about the health maintenance, health promotion, and health restoration. The author will also evaluate health traditions which

Readers of Alice Walker's, "Everyday Use", discusses how the narrator realizes that Maggie understands her own heritage. What does the narrator mean when she says, "Just like when I'm in church and the spirit of God touches me and I get happy and shout?" Does the narrator do something amazing that she has not done before? Some readers opine that the narrator knows what it really feels like to have family. Others say that the narrator recognizes the importance of giving. However, both these readings are not with the point. The narrator realizes that Maggie should have the quilts because they embody her heritage.

Moreover, the family understands the specifics about the individual's condition and their daily routines. This can help health care professionals to decide if the person is following the proper steps in their therapy. Once this takes place, is the point that health care professionals can make adjustments to reflect changing realities. Those patients, who have their families involved, will be able to receive better care by ensuring that nothing is overlooked. This is the point that physicians will have a more complete picture surrounding their underlying levels of health. (Saleeba, 2009)

My family has always been very close. We spend a great deal of time together and express our deep feelings and emotions with one another. If one of us has an issue, every member of the family is aware of it and shares the burden. When a person in the family does not share significant information about one’s life with the rest of the members, there is hurt feelings. Also, if a member cannot attend a family event, the family feels disappointed and misses the absent member. It is evident that connectedness is held as extremely valuable.

Heritage is the customs, traditions, ethnicities, cultures, achievements, beliefs, etc., that are fragment and portion of the history of a community group or a nation (Merriam-Webster, n.d.). When talking about heritage, one is talking about who we are, what part of the world are we from and what is our history is all about. Everyone come from different culture and with traditions, customs and the heritage differs from cultures to culture, which is determined by religions, ethnics, and cultural background. As nurses, it is very essential and vital when collecting patient information along with theirs cultural background during nursing assessment.

We must approach the patient and their family with an attitude of caring, empathy, and respect. We can explain that we would be happy to learn of the patients’ needs and concerns, and of any accommodations we can make so they will feel comfortable