Health Care Cultural Assignment
Janell Mclawrence and Jonique Ponder
Finger Lakes Health College of Nursing
Health Care Cultural Assignment
Usually when the Caribbean countries cross your mind you think of sunshine, vacation, beaches, blue water, great food and many more. One thing that doesn’t often cross the mind when traveling is healthcare and the quality of care you will receive.
The country I chose is Jamaica. I chose this country because it is my heritage, where my family originated. My mother was born and raised in Jamaica until she came to the United States at 12 years old. In Jamaica, you have the famous tourist parts such as Montego Bay, Ochos Rios and then you have places that are very violent, impoverished and crowded like
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Many of them are public institutions, and then there are private institutions. Each parish has at least one small hospital. However, comprehensive emergency care is only available in the cities of Kingston and Montego Bay. Outside of the larger cities or in remote parts of the country, emergency services are only available in both limited quality and quantity. The health care is free or subsidized for its citizens and residents, based on income. Many public hospitals are frequently overcrowded, and the quality isn’t great and often unreliable. There is low funding from the Jamaican government for these institutions. Stress is alleviated by Private institutions that offer a better quality of care but of course, it comes at a cost that many can’t afford. Only about nine percent of Jamaica’s population goes to these private …show more content…
Ninety-eight point five percent of the Nursing Staff are educated at one of the two Schools of Nursing on the island. Training includes a three year General Nursing Program, twelve months in Midwifery and a one-year Nursing Assistant Program. Compared to the United States, Grenada has a very long process, and the education is much harder to attain because of the small programs and lack of hospitals. Certifications for these programs are made possible through Grenada Nurses and Midwives Council is affiliated with the Regional Nursing Body. The nurses are afforded opportunities to do undergraduate and graduate studies at the University of the West Indies and The St. George’s University towards the attainment of a
Jamaican heath care is very poor. There is only one small hospital for every parish. There are about three dozen hospitals or clinics on the island, but most are not reliable because of the violent crimes that consume the hospitals and most are overpopulated. Because of this, most people die at young ages.
In order to compile valuable research findings and specific information on different culture care concepts, Dr. Leininger had devised the idea of enablers to perform these types of assessments. Enablers was the appropriate term, as it portrayed a more intimate and personal way to describe Dr. Leininger 's approach in obtaining valuable information. It gives off the impression that those involved in an interview through these enablers, are actual human beings with real life answers. These people aren 't being objectified, as the whole process in itself is to connect on a personal basis that isn 't so concrete. The purpose of these enablers is to have these researchers be able to cooperatively gain insights from informants without offending or coming off too strong on them. Enablers help guide the informants to willingly express their stories and concerns about health care and their culture. Gaining such difficult and specific answers can only be shared by willing informants. The reason why these enablers are important, is so they can provide an organized set of topics and question for the interviewee, and provide the informant a proper environment to share their cultures, beliefs, and views.
Jamaica has about 2.8 million of residents, who are “mostly descendants of African Blacks, with minor representations from East Indian, Chinese, and European ancestries,” (Gall, 2009). In order to provide Jamaicans with the appropriate nursing care, nurses need to be aware of some important elements, as for example verbal communication, their belief, food
Working as a research nurse at the Ohio State University, I often encounter patients that
Introduction Cultural Competency is fundamentally linked to the principles of social justice and human rights because it provides the nurses with the opportunity to develop interpersonal skills to provide equal care despite one’s cultural background. However, using the principles of social justice and human rights to educate nurses allows them to learn how to negotiate cultural differences. Removing their own cultural filters, and seeing events through the eyes of those who are culturally different, accomplish this. An embedded experience, in which nurses interact with various cultures, would encourage them to adopt cultural competency knowledge (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, 2008). Environmental justice can affect the population’s health.
2.3 Explain how the health and social care practitioner own values, beliefs and experiences can influence delivery of care.
Baccalaureate-prepared nurses should demonstrate cultural awareness and competence in their practice in order to provide quality care to diverse populations in the society (Kersey-Matusiak, 2012). The US health care system faces disparities in the health status of different cultural groups such as the racial and ethnic minorities, the economically disadvantaged groups and rural populations (Jeffreys, 2006). Cultural competence refers to the attitudes, knowledge, and skills that are necessary for providing care in diverse populations and I believe that I have acquired personal cultural awareness and competence (Weber & Kelly, 2009). I am able to promote social justice by remaining impartial
research on healthcare practices in a culturally diverse setting has established the importance of cultural awareness, competence, and diversity for healthcare workers.
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
Providing culturally competent care is a vital responsibility of a nurse’s role in healthcare. “Culturally competent care means conveying acceptance of the patient’s health beliefs while sharing information, encouraging self-efficiency, and strengthening the patients coping resources” (Giddens, 2013). Competence is achieved through and ongoing process of understanding another culture and learning to accept and respect the differences.
Cultural competence is a skill essential to acquire for healthcare providers, especially nurses. Cooperating effectively and understanding individuals with different backgrounds and traditions enhances the quality of health care provided by hospitals and other medical facilities. One of the many cultures that nurses and other health care providers encounter is the American Indian or Native American culture. There are hundreds of different American Indian Tribes, but their beliefs and values only differ slightly. The culture itself embodies nature. To American Indians, “The Earth is considered to be a living organism- the body of a higher individual, with a will and desire to be well. The Earth is periodically healthy and less healthy, just as human beings are” (Spector, 2009, p. 208). This is why their way of healing and symbolic items are holistic and from nature.
Seeking to position lower socioeconomic status above racial/ethnic biases or vice versa is irresponsible to the goal of eliminating healthcare delivery differences at large. Both these are realities of a group of people who are not receiving the same level of care from the healthcare professionals although they exist within one of the most resource rich countries in the world, the United States. According to House & Williams (2000), “racism restricts and truncates socioeconomic attainment” (page, 106). This alone will hinder good health and spur on disparities as racism reduces the level of education and income as well as the prospect of better jobs. Blacksher (2008) cites the nation’s institutionalized racism as one of the leading factors
In the clinical setting, nurses are believed to spend the most time with patients. This involves regularly dealing with people coming from different ethnicities and with different cultural practices and beliefs (Brown & Edwards, 2012). Given this cultural diversity, every patient may have his/her own cultural beliefs and practices regarding his/her own health and its treatment which can be similar or different to those ... ... middle of paper ... ... nternational Journal for Quality in Health Care, 8(5), 491-497.
personal cleansing and hygiene. There are also some patients who will only want a female nurse or male nurse to attend to their personal care; there are some nurses who are in danger of ignoring certain cultures that some patients have therefore not giving the patient the right care that they need. Which is why cultural competency is absolutely important, to offer culturally competent care is imperative as nurses have to support patient’s decisions made by their family members or from the patient, the decision may come from a cultural perspective which may not sit well for nurses. Truong, Paradies, and Priest (2014) found evidence of improvement in nurses and other healthcare providers when it comes to cultural competency knowledge and
The healthcare industry of the Bahamas is divided into two sectors, public and private health care. There are five hospitals, which includes two private hospitals and three public hospitals, and numerous public community clinics along with the many private facilities through which medical services are rendered (Doctors Hospital, 2009). The Princess Margaret Hospital, which is the main public facility, according to Smith (2010) in 1905 was people’s last choice when seeking medical attention. Smith described the then hospital as being partitioned into four areas, “for the sick, indigent, lepers and insane” (Smith, 2010). Smith (2010) further expressed that the medical services were free and those that were financially stable paid for treatment to be carried out at their homes. Today, 108 years later, much has changed within health care arena. Presently, there is an increase in the number of persons resorting to the public hospitals and public clinics for medical attention. For those that are in good financially standings they make use of private hospitals or/and other private medical facilities. While some people may use the public medical facilities by choice there are others whom, because of their income or lack of income, have no other alternative but to fall at the hands of the public services. Too, for many years the Bahamas has had the problem of immigrants from Haiti crossing the Bahamian borders illegally and this therefore results in an increase in the funds allocated for the health care industry. According to McCartney (2010) the Haitian nationals accounted for 11.5% of the Bahamas population, hence adding to the government health care budget (McCartney, 2013). The reality is that the Bahamas is far from winning...