Transcultural Nursing The United States is often referred to a “melting pot” of cultures (Samovar & Porter, 2011). Cultures should always be considered when caring for individuals within the medical field. Nurses should be the first to recognize and respect the cultural wishes of their patients. Not everyone is familiar with every single culture that exists today, but nurses can take that next step in education and becoming culturally competent (Black, 2014). Dr. Madeleine Leininger coined the phrase “culturally competent” (Black, 2014). Her nursing theory elevated the level of nursing that is provided today (Andrews & Boyle, 2008). This theory plays a major role today in nursing because of the diversity of patients a nurse may care for …show more content…
Dr. Leininger recognized a need for patients to be treated with their cultures in mind (Black, 2014). My definition of culture is a structure of beliefs, traditions, and values different from my own. While researching more about Dr. Leininger and her theory of cultural nursing, I was quiet shocked to see the number of college syllabi that my searching retrieved. I was impressed by the fact that one could take an entire college class just related to this particular theory. I can see how this particular theory would impact patient outcomes and improve the relationships that occur between a patient and nurse. It helps develop respect and trust with patients. In my fourteen years in the operating room, I have had very limited exposure to getting to know about different cultures. In the operating room we informed of the patients beliefs and that those beliefs need to be met. I remember a particular time when a patient wished to have their “energist” be in the operating room while undergoing surgery. At the time I thought that it was odd and that it was not necessary for the patient. Now looking back it was something the patient believed in and the surgeon was accepting of the patient’s beliefs and allowed for the “energist” to be in the operating room. No matter how odd something might seem, if it’s important to the patient, it needs to be …show more content…
Leininger’s theory that nurses today can expand their knowledge base and continually improve their nursing skills by learning about different cultures. It was because of Dr. Leininger’s awareness of her patient’s needs that she was able to develop transcultural nursing (Black, 2014). Transcultural nursing is a nursing skill set that I foresee only becoming more and more needed here in the United States. As our population continuously grows with the vast variety cultures the increase for particular resources and different nursing skills will be needed to provide the up most care for this demographic of
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
Leininger’s theory of nursing: Cultural care diversity and universality (1998). Nursing Science Quarterly. 1(152) DOI: 10.1177/089431848800100408
Over the years, I have developed a stable cultural sensitivity aptitude. I find it is most important to take cues from the patient and their families on how to care for them. As well as to ask the patient what is most important to them and how I can best serve them. In his article, Collins (2015), states that “improved health outcomes are achieved when culturally competent nurses acknowledge the patient’s culture care values and preferred care practices, and incorporate into the professional plan of care the patient’s generic care wishes” (p. 11). I have encountered a few situations which make me most uncomfortable, families not wanting the patient to know the severity of their illness, and obvious servitude behaviors toward the females to name a couple. When these occur, I have found the inclusion of the charge nurse, the physician and social services can lessen the negative outcomes in these situations. My goal is to assure the patient is cared for in a manner that is most comfortable to them and satisfies their needs to ensure a speedy and comprehensive recovery. Another practice in my own career has been to share the cultural information gathered with oncoming shifts of care givers, the charge nurse and
When working in a medical/health related field one would be able to see countless people and odd things. Some medical procedures that might seem small to one person may be complicated or even taboo to another person’s beliefs. That is why as nurses, one should be culturally competent. (Newman Giger & Davidhizar, 2008) says, “to be culturally competent one must be able to deliver meaningful care to a patient
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.
Allangan in article on cultural care states that the theory was developed during World War II when immigrants and refugees from diverse culture began to move within the United States. Discussion on Cultural care theory has been applied Cultural Care Diversity and Universality theory have been applied in many health care setting worldwide. The theory has been applied to education, practice and research. In the nursing practice we see an influx of nurses from diverse culture migrating to the U.S as well as immigrant from different population and places of the world. The degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain process and understand basic health information and services to make appropriate health (IOM, 2004,p,32).
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.
Transcultural nursing requires us to care for our patients by providing culturally sensitive care to a broad spectrum of patients. The purpose of this post is to describe cultural baggage, ethnocentrism, cultural imposition, prejudice, discrimination, and cultural congruence. I will also give an example of each term to help you understand the terminology related to nursing care. I will define cultural self-assessment and explain why it is valuable for nurses to understand what their own self-assessment means. Finally, I will describe the five steps to delivering culturally congruent nursing care and how I have applied these concepts to my nursing practice.
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.
According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Religion is defined as; “A personal set or institutionalized system of religious beliefs, attitudes and practices based on the worship of God or the supernatural” (Merriam-Webster, 2017). In the world, today, there are about 4,000 different religions, some that are very well known and others that are not very well known or that many do not know about. Every religion and every person has different beliefs on the healthcare setting and what is expected of their practice. The Catholic religion is one of the most known religions in many different areas of the world. The Catholic religion, like other religions, has beliefs that they think should be followed, especially when it comes to the healthcare system.
for nurses to be aware of the diverse needs of many differing cultures. Learning and
As a nurse strive to provide culturally sensitive care, they must recognize how their client's and their perceptions are similiar as well as different. Nurse enhance their ability to provide client-centered care by reflecting on how their beliefs and values impact the nurse-patient relationship. To provide appropriate patient care, the nurse must understand her/his culture and that of the nurse profession. Cultural biases can be particularly difficult to identify when the nurse and client are of a similar cultural backgroup. When we recognize and know a culture, we will know what is right for our patient, and thus may impose our own values on the client by assuming our values are their values. Recognizing differences a present an opportunity not only to know the other, but also to help gain a greater sense of self. In this paper, I will explain more about diversity and cultural competence in case study.
Lipson, J.G. & Dubble, S.L. (Eds). (2007). Culture & clinical care. San Francisco, California: The Regents, University of California.
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
Miller, Leininger, Leuning, Pacquiao, Andrews, and Ludwig-Beyer, (2008) support that the skill of cultural competency in nursing is the ability to gather relevant cultural data on the presenting problem of the patient. This cultural assessment is defined as a "...