NRS-429: Heritage Assessment

Heritage Assessment

Grand Canyon University: NRS-429

September 9, 2016

Heritage Assessment

Each ethnicity has its own unique characteristics and knowledge from religion, language, food, art, music, and social traits; this is their cultural make- up. This Heritage tool is used to obtain a small fragment of family history, to help analyses their culture. The three people interviewed with the Heritage tool are from three distinctively different backgrounds. The first is from the rural Midwest, second is from Barbados and the third is from.

This tool was useful in helping to get a better appreciation of the needs of our multicultural patient population. This tool is helpful to us as nurse, because it allows us to deliver a more culturally

acceptable care to our patients. For us to be culturally we should have knowledge of five cultural areas; Cultural awareness, cultural knowledge, cultural skills, cultural encounters, and cultural desire/needs. Cultural knowledge is learning new information about other cultural groups. Cultural skills are how quickly you can learn the cultural data. Cultural encounters involve wanting to engage with people from other cultural backgrounds. Cultural desire/needs are how open and accepting you are of other cultures. Knowing the heritage and culture varies from patient to patient, that is why it would be beneficial to add a Heritage tool to the patient's assessment forms (Jarvis, C., 2012).
The first person interviewed was Born in Indianapolis, IN. and raised in a small rural farming community in that state. His health care practices have been to follow the recommended guidelines of a yearly physical and lab work (White, M.A., personal communication, September 9, 2016). As well as receiving all recommended immunizations, healthy eating and exercise (Wellness, UCR). He uses home remedies along with over the counter (OTC) medications when he becomes ill. Only seeing his Primary Care Physician (PCP) as a last resort.
The second person interviewed is form Skeenes Hill, Barbados, in the Caribbean Islands. He moved to the United States with his parents and grandparents when he was three years old. The settled in New York City, New York, where he and his sisters attended public schools. They believe that health care involves the whole family. Religion and home remedies are a large part of their health care beliefs. They practice Catholicism and Baha'i and pray is the first step in health care for him and his family. They only see a doctor as a last resort (Gordon, T., personal communication, September 9, 2016). They believe in immunizations and wellness screenings. The Caribbean region was the first place in the Americas to eliminate poliomyelitis and indigenous measles and rubella (Theodore-Gandy & Barclay, 208).
The third person interviewed is from
The use of the Heritage tool is important for helping to deliver care that is more culturally sensitive to our patients. Some of the disparities in the health care system can be attributed to the lack of cultural sensitivity. We as have to be aware of our own heritage and we must be willing to learn more about others heritages in order to be more effective in our careers and to provide the best possible care to our patients.