Overview of African-American Culture

In this paper I discuss the African-American culture in regards to values, norms and beliefs.

Although African-Americans represent the largest minority group, studies show they have the lowest success rates in nursing programs. According to the AACN (2013), “African-American nursing students have the lowest graduation rate when compared to other minority groups”. The lack of minorities providing care negatively effects healthcare outcomes and accessibility. In order to increase the number of African-Americans nurses practicing, it is essential to gain an understanding of the conditions that lead to successes and failures. The purpose of this study is to provide insight into the positive and negative experiences had by African-American nursing students, for development of appropriate interventions to increase the number of successful graduates.

If you get admitted to your local Florida hospital, how likely is it that your nurse will be of your same ethnic background? According to the Florida Center for Nursing ([FCN], 2011), demographics of Florida nurses differ significantly from the demographics of Floridians with some ethnic groups. The greatest disparity exists with the differences in the Florida population of men, Hispanics, and Blacks.

Cultural competency is becoming essential in American healthcare with the increasing and diversification of immigration. The Department of Homeland Security, 2014 statistics indicates over 750,000 immigrants received naturalization in the US. These naturalized citizens represent over 20 countries varying from Hispanic, Indian, Asian, African, and Middle Eastern cultures. A change in the way American healthcare treats these cultures is necessitated to provide efficient care and achieve positive outcomes. Douglas et al. (2014) guidelines are to empower patients to help diminish the inequities of their own healthcare. The guidelines for culturally competent care are meant to guide the nurse, nurse educators, and nurse managers in their competent treatment of persons of other cultures. These guidelines mandate a nurse use education, self-assessment and reflection, and diversification of the workforce to meet the demands. The ten guidelines are knowledge of culture, education and training in culturally competent care, critical reflection, cross-cultural communication, culturally competent practice, cultural competence in health care systems and organizations, patient advocacy and empowerment, multicultural workforce, cross-cultural leadership, and evidence-based practice and research.

The important historical experience of African Americans in our country has been shaped by the institution of slavery, dehumanization of blacks, segregation, pursuit of civil rights, and racism in contemporary American society. Disparities in health care provide compelling evidence that issues of race or skin color for the descendants of slaves and other ethnic minorities persist in the 21st century. Nurses providing care for African Americans must bridge the racial divide and incorporate culturally relevant content in the health history. As

The project will enhance our knowledge of American and African American history and Culture. Like many other cities in the south, African Americans in Atlanta desperately sought the freedom to vote, to use public spaces, gain access to public facilities and institutions, and increase housing as well as economic opportunities. However, what unique about Atlanta history is that the churches, local businesses, government organizations, and various social, educational, and community organization of the Sweet Auburn neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia played a vital role in the development of their black leaders and of the history of Atlanta Georgia during the 20th century.

Regardless of their race, people need to know where they came from and why. Historically, we know that at least 450 years ago, or more, Africans were captured in their home and forcibly brought to the Americas on slave ships to work for landowners. Unfortunately, the Africans brought to the colonies were seen as inferior to the European settlers. Because of this feeling of superiority, the Africans were thought to be the property of the settlers and as such a vast majority were treated harshly. At that point in history, the Africans had lost their identity, and now that hundreds of years had passed the African-Americans have regained their identity. What constitutes the National Museum of African-American History and Culture as special

The purpose of this paper is to explain the need to enhance culturally competent care given by nurse practitioners in a primary care setting and importance of understanding cultural beliefs within the African American community. This paper will examine the application of Kurt Lewin’s change theory to fine-tuning culturally competent care by nurse practitioners in managing mental illness in the African American community. It will explain how the change model has been used in nursing and then, how it can be used in embracing cultural beliefs to enhance education and communication to deliver quality care for mental illnesses.

The facility that I work for has seen a shift in demographics since the erection of this new building and the leaders have identified the challenges this shift have created. They have recognized that for them to achieve the hallmarks of quality of care as illustrated by the IOM they would have to ensure that the standards of culturally competent care are tailored to meet the needs of their new population and it cannot be done haphazardly. Goode (2004) stated that there is no easy solution to achieve cultural competence, it requires careful assessment, setting of specific goals and planning for meaningful growth. Nurse leaders are faced with challenges since the population served by this organization is diverse and consists predominantly of minorities who are more vulnerable to health, employment, and gender disparities. There are large amounts of Africans, Hispanics/Latinos, and Asians; moderate amount of Caucasians and very few Chinese and Vietnamese in our community. In comparison the staff consists of mainly Filipino, moderate Caucasians and few blacks, Hispanics/Latinos, and Asians. In 2008, the U.S.

War, poverty, global tension and abuse has happen since the dawn of mankind, why does this trend happen and still alive even to this day? The reason is because as people tend to be selfish, arrogant, and try to be over others at any cost. This world is divided in sections due to believes and color, what if the world no longer was like that? Could this be the solution to everything if humanity would look beyond skin and location and more on how to help out? If so the first step towards this goal would be educating the youth to look beyond color and to always aspire for greatness no matter their roots.

1. Summarize the historical background, demographics, and diversity within the African American community in the United States.

Nursing is a very diverse and rewarding career. In the healthcare profession nurses are trained to give competent care to all persons regardless of race, age, and cultural belief. The term competent means having the ability, skill and knowledge to accomplish a task in a successful way (Hicks 2012). The increasing multicultural population in the United States of America introduces a challenge to nurses on providing cultural competent care to patients. This requires nurses to observe cultural differences in healthcare values and beliefs. Culturally competent nursing care helps the patient and families to have a positive outcome with healthcare experience. The American Nurses Association (ANA) states “nurses should practice with compassion and respect for the inherent dignity, worth and unique attributes of every person” (Winland-Brown, Lachman & O’Connor Swanson 2015). The thesis of this paper is to discuss the cultural competent of nurses giving effective patient- centered care in the Hispanic culture.

This mission statement speaks volumes. Nurses’ providing culturally competent care, to people of color is an integral component of establishing a healthy and positive nurse-patient relationship. Without culturally competent care, culturally insensitive health care can be a major contributor to health disparities among people of color (Tucker, Moradi, Wall, & Nghiem,

Explaining and identifying the differences and relationships between societies and cultures in Europe and Africa can be a very interesting and a controversial topic to talk about. The two continents are very large masses of land and have many populated areas throughout their regions. There are some very important facts to know if one wants to travel or move to these specific locations. Important facts to consider are the languages, food, and places there are throughout the regions, the visitors would like to consider to tour through. Knowing these considerations will also help tourists understand what the citizens of these countries do and what their lives revolve around on a day to day basis when visitors arrive there.

Every year a large group of Haitians come into the United States and may become a part of the health care system. In the challenging field of nursing, nurses need to be aware of cultural differences and should provide each client with cultural competent care. Each and every year, Haitians enter this country legally and illegally but regardless of how they enter the US, it is inevitable that they will need to be cared for at some time in their life. The astute nurse must understand the need for cultural sensitivity and what to assess for prior to providing care for a Haitian client. The assessment should include communication barriers, orientation of time, health beliefs, health risks, and even more