Because our nation is culturally diverse we must be prepared to teach the next generation of nurses to be culturally sensitive so they won’t alienate their patients, and risk making the patients worse off. To insure this goal we must change how the UW-Madison School of Nursing treats these non-europeans: people from various arts of the Middle-East, Asia, and Latin America. Without instruction in cross-cultural medicine medical practitioners make patients wary, through breaking taboos during the course of ones treatment. (Fadiman, 61) Cross-cultural medicine is an important area to expand because, as Fadiman noted, fifty percent of the US population growth has come from immigrants as of 1990. (Fadiman, 271) These immigrants which include many Middle-Easterners, Asians, and Latin Americans may discover our healthcare system is culturally insensitive. This could lead to lower rates of hospital expenditure, as well as lower morbidity within the US. In fact, if patients were to stop viewing hospitals as last resorts their would be less death, because it is these visits where patients most often die. (Fadiman, 63) Although, there has been a push to incorporate lessons in cross-cultural medicine into medical schools we must also teach cross-cultural medicine to nurse practitioners in order to increase hospital accessibility. (Fadiman, 271) One reason cross-cultural medicine would help these groups get better care is that by understanding the individual cultures the doctors
“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 field of cross-cultural care mainly focuses on the ability to communicate in an effective way so that proper health care is provided to patients with from diverse sociocultural backgrounds. Unfortunately, there is no empirical literature comparing the effectiveness of different models of cross-cultural care and communication. However, there is a strong empirical evidence which shows that educating health care clinicians in cross-culture care can significantly improve skills, knowledge and attitude. (9, 10)
The nurse also recognizes that health care is provided to culturally diverse populations in this country and in all parts of the world. In providing care, the nurse should avoid imposition of the nurse’s own cultural values
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.
Through her research, Leininger established an outline to further explain the importance of culturally competent care and the challenges presented throughout societies and healthcare institutions. The most obvious need for cultural sensitivity is the ongoing immigration throughout the world. As more people from different parts of the world enter into one area, different cultures will be present. The people that migrate to a new region or country will have the expectation that respect will be shown for their beliefs, particularly in the healthcare setting. This includes the use of technological advances in medicine. Some cultures may not understand or trust the delivery of care that is based on new technology (Andrews & Boyle, 2016).
Cultural diversity in the medical field is, at times, greatly hindered because of religious beliefs, language barriers, and the hierarchies of diverse cultures and these have the propensity to affect the continuity of care for the patients. “Every person has different aspects that constitute their identities, according to how they see themselves….This means that seeing an individual in terms of
The disparities break down among Asian American necessary to bypass culture competency, the language barrier, the adaptation of tradition and modern Western medicine, attached to the circular arena of advantages and disadvantages functions of living in America. The culture competency of ethnic minorities soars with cultural differences and multicultural patients requiring healthcare providers to demand a necessary skills for all healthcare providers to facilitate structure and delivery the caring for all foreign-born Asian Americans and as well as the American-born Asian Americans (Park, Chesla, Rehm, Chun, 2011). The traditions and culture values the Asian American has brought to the United States of America has form a transition of herb
As the population of the United States continues to become more diverse, healthcare providers should effectively communicate with each patient regardless of their culture, nationality, religion or socioeconomic status. Nurses and other providers should be delivering patient centered care that is culturally competent. “Culture also includes the integrated pattern of thoughts, communications, actions, customs, beliefs, values, and institutions associated, wholly or partially, with racial, ethnic, or linguistic groups, as well as with religious, spiritual, biological, geographical, or sociological characteristics” (Lamb, 2014, p. 132). Nurses are caring for a wide variety of culturally diverse
Due to the study the health care aspect may have been able to altered and improved due to the studies outcomes. One thing that was considered of great importance was cultural competence (Knowledge and understanding of another person's culture; adapting interventions and approaches to health care to the specific culture of the patient, family, and social group) this is especially important to nurses. It is important to point out that the outcome of this study consisted of an increased cultural knowledge and the study has the ability to be changed and applied to multitude of different medical and nonmedical settings. I personally think that cultural knowledge is important in any field not just the medical field. We have to remember that not everyone is the same we live in a time where people relocate from different states or countries, not only that but people in the same city may not have grown up with the same access to things. This creates a difference understanding and respecting this is important and it shows
The United States is known for its diversity. As a nurse working in such a culturally dynamic country, it is extremely important to be culturally competent in order to provide optimal care. Culturally competent care is defined as “nursing that is sensitive to issues related to culture: religion, race, gender, and sexual orientation.” (Euro med.) In order to deliver such care a nurse must have the knowledge of, be aware of and understand the importance of a patient’s cultural background and how this cultural background affects the care the nurse may give. It is an ongoing process and must be studied continuously.
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
All cultures have systems of health beliefs to explain what causes illness, how it can be cured or treated, and who should be involved in the process. The extent to which patients perceive patient education as having cultural relevance for them can have a profound effect on their reception to information provided and their willingness to use it. For example, the United States which see disease as a result of natural scientific phenomena, advocate medical treatments that combat microorganisms or use
Nowadays, nurses not only need to know how to care of their patients, but they also must be able to care of patients from other cultures with many beliefs and values. Cultural views of individual influence the patient’s perception and decision of health and health care (Creasia & Parker, 2007). In order to care for people across different languages and cultures, nurses need to develop cultural sensitivity, knowledge, and skills.
The concept of globalization, which is the increasing integration and interdependence of different countries from one another in terms of economic, communication, and technological aspects, leads one to address the concept of cultural diversity or multiculturalism. Cultural diversity in the health-care system touches lives of many Americans in one way or another. No matter what our own cultural background is, when we go receive medical care, we may encounter a care giver who comes from a different cultural background than ours(Naylor 1997,291).. In the concept of cultural diversity, it can be recognized that two terms are equally important. The first concept is culture, which refers to the total way of life of individuals, and the unique
The United States is a country in which many cultures integrated into the mainstream and produced different ethno cultural groups. This has created concerns within the healthcare field on how to deliver the most respected and sensitive care to all cultures. It is a huge task for nurses along with other healthcare professionals to learn about multiple cultures. The only way a nurse can provide culturally competent care is to understand that each individual has a right to his or her cultural beliefs, values, and practices. The healthcare professional must then incorporate the illness in relation to the patients culture. This is the point at which each individual will receive a culturally responsive treatment plan and care necessary for respectful care.