The Population Of The United States

The increasing population of immigrants in the United States has contributed to health disparities in the health care system. Cultural competence can remove health disparities by eliminating personal biases, and treating every person with respect. Simply recognizing and accepting different cultures is not enough, one must be able to consistently recognize and understand the differences in order to be culturally competent. Knowledge and culturally competent practices are a must for nurses to deliver quality care in our rapidly changing multicultural world (Edelman, 2014 p. 25).

“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

The homeless are a vulnerable population. They are defined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as “an individual who lacks housing (without regard to whether the individual is a member of a family), including an individual whose primary residence during the night is a supervised public or private facility (e.g., shelters) that provides temporary living accommodations, and an individual who is a resident in transitional housing.” (The National Health Care for the Homeless Council, 2016). They are a social group throughout the US who are susceptible to all of the life’s cruelties. They are much more at risk for adverse illnesses due to their lack of available resources and medical help. Many have predetermined illnesses which need daily treatment but cannot acquire the medication needed. The homeless population lacks the funding for life’s necessities, thus the luxury of insurance and medicine is a dream.

The term culture is defined as “the thoughts, communications, actions, customs, beliefs, values, and institutions of racial, ethnic, religious, or social groups” (Potter & Perry, 2013). With the increase of culturally diverse populations in the United States, it is important for nurses to practice cultural competence. Cultural competence is the ability to acquire specific behaviors, skills, attitudes, and policies in a system that permits “effective work in a cross-cultural setting” (OMH, 2013). Being culturally competent is essential because nurses who acknowledges and respects a patient’s health beliefs and practices are more likely to have positive health outcomes (OMH, 2012). Every culture has certain views and attitudes concerning

The most recent survey of homeless individuals conducted January 29, 2014 revealed 958 homeless adults with no dependants, 70 of which were completely unsheltered, and an additional 130 homeless adults who also had dependent children with them. 208 of these homeless adults are chronically homeless (HUD’s 2014 Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance Programs, Populations, and Subpopulations, 2014).Wayside Christian Mission reaches approximately 7,000 homeless individuals annually (Wayside Christian Mission, 2007). In the Journal of General Internal Medicine, a majority of homeless individuals surveyed stated that they felt discriminated against or that they received lesser care because of their poverty or homelessness (Wen, Hudak, & Hwang, 2007). Homeless and impoverished individuals suffer from high rates of depression, psychiatric illness, alcohol and or substance abuse, HIV/AIDS, TB, Trauma, preterm birth, COPD, low birth weight, musculoskeletal problems, decreased access to care, foot problems, malnutrition, and high Emergency Room utilization (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2014). Not only do homeless persons have a high rate of illness, but they are also less able to appropriately treat health problems. Many homeless individuals have limited access to care, cannot afford medications or nutritious food, and may have difficulty with managing a strict

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 &

A letter to hospital administration, to be determined after some research on who may be the most receptive. The program includes highlighting the issue of homelessness, mental health concerns and the consequences of their use of the emergency room services. The creation of homeless services to be able to obtain non-medical essential services without having to claim an illness to receive food, shelter or other basic needs. Allowing the homeless to receive food, warmth or other requirements without tying up vital medical personnel with false complaints to gain access to address their nonmedical needs. The request to present a plan of action with data and research to all parties of interest and who could be of assistance.

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.

Unfortunately, the homeless has little access to health care related to many factors. The homeless face health risks and are more likely to suffer from mental health issues and chronic health problems. They are exposed to the elements and have poor nutrition and limited access to health care (Potter, Perry, Stockert, and Hall, 2015, p. 620). As a result of limited access, they have less of an opportunity to receive help to prevent or treat illness and injuries. By not receiving help from care providers, their risk for injuries, infection, and terminal illnesses are highly increased. They are susceptible to many diseases more than someone who does receive health care.

This research study done was to be conducted with the idea in mind on the barriers that are faced by homeless people when it comes to healthcare. In evaluating this topic a recommendation for a topic in the future research would be to focus on a specific population of homeless people such as the following: run-away homeless teenagers with that grew up in dysfunctional homes, homeless ex-convicts (male & female), homeless people due to alcohol and drug use, and even homeless people due to mental

Having the privilege to work in one of the busiest emergency departments in Florida, I get to meet many different types of individuals, many of those being homeless. Homeless persons are high risk individuals requiring ED services due to their poor health status, high rates of morbidity, lack of health insurance, chronic use of alcohol and drug abuse, unintentional injuries and much more (Tang, Stein, Hsia, Maselli & Gonzales, 2010). According to the National Health Care for the Homeless Council (2015), a homeless person is defined as an individual without permanent housing who may or may not be living on the streets; but in a shelter, mission, facility, vehicle, or in an unstable situation. The major precipitating factor contributing to homelessness is the shortage of adequate low-income housing (Shi & Singh, 2015).

The Emergency Department is the unofficial primary care facility for the homeless. It serves as both a medical center as well as a social work center (Doran et al., 2013). Although private clinics are available for the general public, obstacles such as identification and insurance requirements as well as disrespectful attitudes and apathetic treatment make services difficult and unpleasant for homeless patients to access (Zlotnick et al., 2013). In the Emergency Department, practitioners generally do not ask patients if they are homeless and instead rely on physical appearance such as whether the patient is wearing multiple layers of clothing or whether he/she has dirty fingernails

There are many vulnerable populations which all have special health care needs. According to our text a vulnerable population has more of a chance of developing adverse health problems then other populations. As nurses in the community we have to address many of these issues in order to help our clients. Poverty is one of the main causes people have of vulnerability. The homeless population is a very vulnerable population.

Studies have shown “31-46% report having a chronic medical problem. (NHCHC, 2001, p.1). According to these statistics almost half of the homeless population are suffering from chronic health problems. The majority of which will not receive proper care to cure the health problems. The homeless population, in order to address the living challenges, they use extraordinary amounts of human services. Visits to a facility that provides health care is much higher for a homeless person than the general population. “Homeless adults are