The Importance Of Transcultural Nursing

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Madeleine Leininger is a nurse who realized that cultural care was an important concept in nursing. In the 1950s she found that behavioral issues in children stemmed from a cultural basis due to nursing having a lack of knowledge in a variety of cultural awareness (Buschur-Betancourt, 2015). The purpose of this paper is to identify the eight reasons Madeleine Leininger states transcultural nursing is necessary. I will describe the cultural diversity and how it relates to my field of nursing. I will also provide three ways that I have incorporated culturally sensitive care toward my patients. Transcultural Nursing as a Necessary Specialty There are eight reasons that transcultural nursing has become a necessary framework for the care we …show more content…

According to the Migration Policy Institute, the most current data shows the United States as having 42.4 million immigrants (Zong & Batalova, 2016). This leads us to reason number two, which involves these diverse multicultural families that want their beliefs and values to be understood by those in the medical field. Reason number three is that sometimes the increased use of technology can cause conflicts with the values of patients. An example of this would be communication between a healthcare worker and a family that does not understand technological instruments, such as a life-saving device or intubation. Reason number four recognizes that conflicts can lead to confrontation and violence as cultures intermingle with one another, which can impact a patient’s care. Number five acknowledges that there has been an increase in people relocating to different parts of the world for work. According to Jelinek (n.d.), a healthcare worker must be aware of the local culture when you are working in a diversified area that may have a different culture and belief than your own. Otherwise, you risk a communication barrier that could affect the patient’s care. Number six involves the ramifications of the negligence …show more content…

Characteristics can be as diverse as ethnic background, language spoken, gender status, physical appearance, race, and religion to name a few. Migration from various countries is creating a diverse population with different cultures and languages within the United States. Due to these cultural differences and lack of knowledge, disparities are increasing. Studies have shown that both language barriers and lack of cultural customs can hinder the services provided to the patient by the healthcare worker (Renzaho, Romios, Crock, & Sonderlund, 2013). This study provided a positive outcome when communication and cultural mutual understanding took place and patients had a more positive health outcome. It is very important that nurses are diversified in various cultures in order to better care for our patients. According to Mareno and Hart (2014), cultural competency has become one of the core values being taught in nursing programs. Their study showed that the perceived level of cultural awareness and skills among the nurses provided was low. Awareness and knowledge levels increased with higher education. It was highly recommended that self-awareness exercises be incorporated into the nursing course and continued to be addressed during the remaining curriculum until

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