Comprehensive Cultural Assessments: A Cultural Analysis

Due to the rapidly diversifying world that we live in, transcultural nursing should be an integral part of the culture of nursing. By the year 2050 over half of the U.S. population will be comprised of non-white or racially diverse backgrounds (Andrews & Boyle, 2016-a). Nursing schools and healthcare organizations should ensure that students and staff are appropriately prepared to care for diverse populations by providing transcultural skills education. In this post, I will define culturally diverse assessments, describe key components of a comprehensive cultural assessment, and identify five communication skills that facilitate culturally competent communication.

Patient assessment is the foundation of healthcare planning, so cultural assessments

When using this standard, it becomes essential for nurses to take the necessary time needed to complete a comprehensive assessment for the ethnic patient because all aspects of the patient’s care hinge on this information. When assessing cultural affiliation, the nurse should include the ethnic group that the patient relates to and the degree in which the patient identifies with this group. The nurse also determines the client’s birthplace and the length of time that the patient lived in that country before relocating. To assess values, the nurse includes information about education, occupation, and personal beliefs about birth, death, illness, and the role of healthcare providers. When assessing communication, the information includes the language that the patient speaks at home, whether the patient speaks or writes in English, the need for an interpreter, the desire for a caregiver with a similar ethnic background, and communication style of the client. When gathering information about health- related beliefs and practices, the nurse should assess the patient’s perception of illness, activities that promote health, cultural healing practices, and the importance of religion. The nutrition assessment focuses on the social concepts

Nurses should be aware of verbal and nonverbal communication patterns. Using respectful listening, speaking clearly, observing nonverbal indicators, avoiding medical terminology, and using clear speech, increases the effectiveness of cultural communication. There are many skills that the nurse can use to facilitate communication. When encountering patients who speak a different language, it’s essential to use an interpreter and to understand that communicating with an interpreter increases the length of patient interaction when compared to communicating without an interpreter. Silence is a communication skill that has many meanings depending on the culture. For Asians and Native Americans it means an understanding or consideration, for the French and Spanish speakers it may mean that they agree with what was said, and African-Americans may use it as a response to an inappropriate question. The use of eye contact to facilitate communication also varies among different cultures. European and American cultures value eye contact during conversation because it means the other person is interested in what is said, while in some Asian countries, Africa and the Middle East it is seen as a sign of disrespect or aggression. Gestures are also valuable when communicating because they serve as illustrators for words that the speaker uses, are regulators