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Diversity situations in healthcare
Diversity situations in healthcare
Diversity situations in healthcare
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Each day, nurses or other healthcare providers, encounter a wide range of patients that may look, talk, think, or act differently than themselves. This variance is shown by the many diverse backgrounds and cultures that make up the human race. Although the definition of culture cannot be condensed to a single definition, culture can be understood as a complex makeup of each person’s social, personal, and environmental experiences that effect their outlook and produces certain actions (Edberg, 2012). Therefore, this will produce a wide range of patients that will each have a unique view of health and wellness. Not only is it important for healthcare providers to understand diverse cultures and practices so that they may adequately care for patients
However, culture is not restricted to ethnicity, race, or religion, and we are all part of many different subcultures that exist within other cultures. Subcultures may include areas of interest such as cancer survivors, senior citizens, and may even represent common needs, such as the specific needs of the homeless. “Understanding the complexities of culture from the perspectives of the providers and the recipients of care is critical because culture pervades all aspects of health care as it does all aspects of life” (Schim, Doorenbos, Benkert, & Miller, 2007, p.
McClimens, A., Brewster, J., & Lewis, R. (2014). Recognising and respecting patients ' cultural diversity. Nursing Standard (2014+), 28(28), 45.
This essay will focus on outlining the fundamental principles of cultural diversity and how effective nursing interventions are used when providing an adequate amount of care for an individual from a culturally diverse background and how this may collide with the nursing therapeutic engagement. This essay will give the reader an insight upon culture whilst giving a significant explanation of cultural differences within a health setting. The patient’s real name will not be used and will be referred to as Mr. X. This is in line with the Nursing and midwifery Council 2008 (NMC, 2008) requirements to maintain confidentiality at all times.
Cultural genograms are useful in expanding one’s awareness of the effects of culture on an individual. In turn, this can aid in understanding how other people are a product of his or her culture as well. Cultural genograms are a beneficial tool in providing culturally competent care in nursing. It is essential to remember that there is not an individual culture that is considered to be correct or the standard, but that every culture has a unique view on practices in life. Being culturally sensitive is a critical element in providing culturally competent care.
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 health. The Jewish (also referred to as Jews), in particular, have intriguing health practices and beliefs that health care providers need to be aware of.
Jean Giddens (2013) defines culture as “a pattern of shared attitudes, beliefs, self-definitions, norms, roles, and values that can occur among those who speak a particular language, or live in a defined geographical region.” (Giddens, 2013). A person’s culture influences every aspect that person’s life. Beliefs affected by culture include how someone interacts within the family, how to raise children, the types of foods eaten, the style of clothes chosen, which religion is practiced, and the style of communication (including verbal, and body language, slang used etc.) (Giddens, 2013). In addition to these beliefs, health care practices are also affected by culture. The cause
These differences in origin accounts for diversity in socio-cultural backgrounds and nurses must develop the knowledge and the skills to engage patients from different cultures and to understand the beliefs and the values of those cultures (Jarvis, 2012). If healthcare professionals focus only on a narrowly defined biomedical approach to the treatment of disease, they will often misunderstand their patients, miss valuable diagnostic cues, and experience higher rates of patient noncompliance with therapies. Thus, it is important for a nurse to know what sociocultural background a patient is coming from in order to deliver safe an effective
An individual’s culture and belief may significantly impact the type of services they require. In addition, it may affect the time, place, and method in the delivery of health care
The topic I decided to look further into is how culture plays in a health care system and how they interact with each other. The reason I chose to look more into this is because I have always had the thought of how do other people like me communicate and interact with health care organizations. Other people, meaning different ages, genders, ethnicities, and other forms of culture. “Culture can be defined as the beliefs, assumptions, attitudes, and values a group of individuals share about the world based upon common experience” (Wright, Sparks, O’Hair p. 165). The best way for me to understand how much health care organizations are influenced by culture is the way our textbook describes it and that is “communication scholars who take a cultural
Cultural competence can be defined as using the ability of one’s awareness, attitude, knowledge and skill to effectively interact with a patient’s many cultural differences. Madeline Leininger, a pioneer on transcultural nursing describes it this way; “a formal area of study and practice focused on comparative human-care differences and similarities of the beliefs, values and patterned lifeways of cultures to provide culturally congruent, meaningful, and beneficial health care to people” (Barker, 2009, p. 498). The importance of cultural diversity in healthcare allows for the delivery of appropriate cultural autonomy. Showing respect for others will lead to trust between nurse and patient which in turn improves healing and health.
Leininger’s most meaningful and exceptional influence was the development of her Culture Care Diversity and Universality Theory, which she introduced in the early 1960s to provide culturally congruent and competent care. “She believed that transcultural nursing care could provide meaningful, therapeutic health and healing outcomes”(Parker & Smith, 2010). The Theory of Culture Care Diversity and Universality was developed to establish a applicable knowledge base to guide nurses to understand and apply transcultural nursing into their own practice. Leininger also identified three new creative ways to attain and maintain culturally congruent care. “The three modalities postulated were: culture care preservation or maintenance, culture care accommodation or negotiation, and culture care restructuring or repatterning” (Parker & Smith, 2010). Cultural preservation or maintenance signifies to nursing care interventions that help clients of particular cultures to retain and preserve cultural care standards when delivering healthcare. Cultural care adjustment or cooperation refers to original and advanced nursing actions that assist people of various cultures familiarize or convey with others in order to achieve a goal of optimal health outcomes appropriate to the patient’s culture whether it be an individual, a family, or a community. Cultural care repatterning or restructuring signifies to the therapeutic actions occupied by the culturally knowledgeable nurse that allow the patient to change individual health behavior to accomplish valuable results whereas valuing the cultural morals of the patient. These expectations are the theoretical foundation in which Leininger has benefited to enhance significance, complexity, and clearness to the general emphasis of culturally skilled care. According to Leininger’s Sunrise Model, a visual depiction of the theory, can be a used as a tool for implementing individualized culture assessments of patients. “The model
As nurses entering the medical field understanding the culture of our patients is crucial to proper care. Each culture has their own set of beliefs and values that are shared among groups of people which influences personality, language, lifestyles, house hold, level modesty, social standings, foods, health treatment and identity. Culture affects how people view health and illness; dictating when, where and what type of medical treatment they will receive and who will be their care provider.
Lipson, J.G. & Dubble, S.L. (Eds). (2007). Culture & clinical care. San Francisco, California: The Regents, University of California.
The theory suggests that “nurses are capable of being models for embracing patients’ cultural needs in healthcare, and as a result, it is of high priority that nursing professional recognize and understand…” (Betancourt, 2015, p.1). The goal is for the nurse to be culturally aware and competent of incorporating the patient’s beliefs into care. According to Leininger (2001), understanding the client’s cultural belief and integrating it into care practices do support not only healing and wellness but also improve compliance. Leininger’s theory of Cultural Care: Diversity and Universality is an integral part of nursing practice today.
Culture is an extremely important aspect in people’s daily lives and effects everyone, from healthcare professionals to the patients they treat. Culture plays an important role and impacts public health very much because it is ingrained in every society, and because of that it vastly differs from society to society and person to person. It is an extremely important aspect to pay attention to especially in the public health field where one is exposed to many different people and therefore many different cultures.