Increasing Sensitivity to Culture in the Medical Practice

“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 first step to properly caring for a patient is acceptance. A nurse must accept the fact that not everyone is the same. Communities consist of many diverse ethnicities and spiritual practices. A nurse has to learn how to throw out all the judge mental thoughts of an individual and try to view the situation through the eyes of the patient. To be culturally competent in the professional practice of nursing, a health care worker must show respect. Health care workers cannot force a patient to go through with a procedure. The individual must respect the wishes of the patient to deny medical care whether it be because of spiritual reasons or just fear of the unknown. Most importantly, a health care worker must be culturally competent in order to avoid misdiagnosis of a patient. Judging a

The world is filled with many cultures and it is important for healthcare professionals to understand most of them, therefore understand their patient. The heritage assessment includes the many factors that may influence a patient’s medical decision such as their religious beliefs and cultural background (Spector, 2009). The heritage assessment is very useful in understanding a patient’s preferred health approach to maintain, protect and restore it. Knowing cultural beliefs and values are very significant because in many cases, they are important to the patient and the beliefs and values influence their health choices. By

The care needs of patients continue to change, as the United States population becomes more diverse. Nurses will be required to be more knowledgeable and respectful of the differences in cultural and religious beliefs as this diversity continues. The American Nurses Association (ANA) states, “knowledge of cultural diversity is vital at all levels of nursing practice…nurses need to understand: how cultural group groups define health and illness; what cultural groups do to maintain wellness; what cultural groups believe to be the causes of illness; and how healers cure and care

Since nursing began, many different philosophies have helped shape our evolution. Philosophical forces have been spiritual, religious, and gender in nature just to name a few. “Spiritual belief and religious practice contributed significantly to the moral foundation of nursing.” (Burkhardt & Nathaniel, 2014, p. 8) When admitting a patient, I am required to ask if my patient has any spiritual beliefs. We do this because spiritual beliefs have long been thought to play an important part to promote healing. For this reason, it is essential to incorporate whatever their belief into their treatment plan. The same can be said for their religious beliefs. Not all procedures, medications, and treatments are universally accepted among the many different religions. But, we do know that “in all cultures, the nursing profession has been profoundly influenced by various aspects of spirituality and religious practice.”

Many cultures have drastically different backgrounds, however family support, religion and traditional home remedies play a large role in the basis of care for most. These cultural needs of individuals can be met with the aid of healthcare professionals. The integration of personal preferences and cultural

In today's society, the role of nurses has also expanded into one more area: cultural advocacy. What this means is that nurses must not see patients as a homogeneous group of ill individuals. Rather, they must see patients as humans who each come with their own rich history and culture. Being a cultural advocate means that patients are attended to in a manner that does not trivialize their customs and their views on how their care should be delivered. Religious and ethnic customs are respected by the nurse who fosters cultural advocacy because he or she believes that these things are part of what makes up the entirety of a patient, and is therefore a crucial aspect to address in providing holistic

The forces of globalization, including more affordable travel are leading to increased cultural and ethnic diversity of populations in the Western Hemisphere. It estimated that non-European Americans currently make up a third of the US population and will become the majority by 2080 (Grant & Letzring, 2003). Naturally, nurses are for this reason encountering greater diversity in the patients they are responsible for treating. It is important to note that these groups might not have the same value system with respect to conventional Western medicine. The philosophy of paternalism has largely been discarded and as such greater emphasis on patient involvement, autonomy and consent have become central to nursing as a profession (Pozgar, 2013). It is the responsibility of nurses to ensure that patients are cared for in a manner that is respectful of their individual beliefs and cultures. One such population that is experiencing growth in the United States is those belonging to the Islamic faith or “Muslims”. Not only does this group have distinct cultural practices, they may also be expecting discrimination and stigma as a result of these practices that could prevent them from seeking out medical care (Wehbe-Alamah, 2008). In the following paper, some of these cultural practices and their relevance to nursing practice are discussed.

In any case, providing competent care to a patient of a different culture must first start with an understanding of the culture itself (Potter & Perry, 2011). Culture is

• Understanding other cultures does not automatically occur, it takes guidance and the ability to critically reflex that individuals can move away from judgment and to be open to new ideas and realities in order for health care providers to provide an acceptable culturally diverse care to their patients (Ong-Flaherty, C. 2015).

Culture is involved when for example woman ill population becomes it is all about one, or when pain is exhibit by screaming, crying or silence. Another is a religious standpoint that people behave differently, such as singing, happy, and holistic things. We realize that the manner we act is not the only way that we think when we are exposed to something else. Some situations need further action, and it is okay to say that we do not know, but we can contact someone else who is more knowledgeable like a chaplain. This request has to be authorized by the patient. However, we, nurses, could adapt to the spiritual needs of patients. Hospitals also care for spiritual needs of patients, such as Baptist and Mercy. They are faith based and do not discriminate base on religious beliefs. To conclude, changes in nursing practice are on and will continue as patients become very involved in their care, more knowledgeable in health benefits and spiritual motivated. Nurses must adapt to those needs in order to offer high quality patient

Recognizing the patient’s cultures serves a big help in providing quality healthcare management. Through Cultural sensitivity it delivers clients of healthcare facilities with the influence to mention on activities and contribution to the accomplishment of helpful experiences and results. Participation in shifting any undesirably apparent or skilled service. The healthcare provider’s own culture, history, attitude and life experiences has a big impact in providing equitable, effective, efficient and acceptable service delivery. This may also result in development of health and wellness when combined into the planning, intervention and assessment stages of health care

Therefore, due to lack of to the scarce of medical services the thought of preventive health care such as immunizations, prenatal care, or regular dental care may not be heard concept. This has resulted in a variety of treatable ailments that become more life threatening due to lack of health care. (Susan Schmidt, 2003) Cultural sensitivity is usually should be relied upon for cross-cultural medical care. Health care providers must consider cultural factors when they: • Consider patient medical history and physical analysis. Cultural values define the patients’ health, opinion of the body and its purposes, and assessment of problem and cause.

All cultures have their own systematic believes to validate the course of illness as to how it can be treated or cured. The degree to which patients perceive a patient educating as having cultural relevance for them can have a huge effect on their reception of information given and to use it willingness.

When dealing with patient care, it is important for staff to feel competent and confident in their work and expertise. Rural hospitals across the United States are being hit with cutbacks in funding and getting lower compensation for services. With many changes in the designation by Medicare that result in lower reimbursement and regulatory issues that have become factors for many rural hospitals across the country shutting down (Schorr, 2015). Competence is a complex issue and relies on the ability of the individual to be accountable for their own practice. However, it also requires the employer to continue to offer training and support appropriate to the contractual role (Barker, 2014). Cultural competency is a key part of delivering patient-centered care because both concepts stress respect for the patient, clear communication, shared decision-making, and building strong doctor---patient relationships (Noe, Kaufman, Kaufmann, Brooks, & Shore, 2014). Patient centeredness and cultural competence are important elements of delivering quality care (Barker, 2014). Competence is defined by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC, 2014) as having the skills, knowledge and judgement to practise safely. A lack of competence is said to be an issue if, over a prolonged period of time (Barker, 2014).This includes not only clinical skills, but matters such as working as a member of the team or having poor communication skills (NMC, 2014). There’s no doubt about it, when someone is ill