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Transcultural nursing theory main concepts
Transcultural nursing theory main concepts
Pros and cons of cultural diversity in health care
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To define and discuss cultural care in nursing the definition of culture must first be explored. Culture encompasses many different components. It involves ethnic, religious, socioeconomic, sexual, and health customs to name a few. Culture is something that is personal to everyone and something that must be understood and respected by those in the nursing profession. As we begin to see more and more people from various cultures come into our health system it is important for nurses to look at their own culture values and customs and be aware of any biases that they might have toward groups that are different from their own.
Defining Culturally Sensitive Nursing
Madeline Leininger (1984) defines transcultural nursing as “a humanistic and
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This simply means nurses should understand culturally diverse populations and how their customs, beliefs, practices and family/support systems affect the health and well-being of the patient (Douglas et al., 2014). We must not force our own views or beliefs on patients just because we think it is the “right” or medically “responsible” thing to do. Nurses must explore options that allow patients to be in congruence with the own cultural practices, values and beliefs. A challenge to nurses is to find a delicate balance that allows a patient to practice what is important to them and their culture within the confine of acceptable practices in a clinical setting. A patient’s safety is first and foremost and some practices might not fall within the limits of safe practice in such a setting. In this type of situation, the nurse should discuss options with the patient as well as the health care team about acceptable …show more content…
According to Douglas et al. (2014), there are several topics that are imperative for the nurse to learn in order to provide evidence-based care while maintaining cultural sensitivity. These topics include: 1) the impact of people’s culture on their beliefs, values, customs and ways of acting, 2) the way people from different culture seek and go about obtaining health care, 3) the need to be aware of communication styles, and finally the impact of health policy on different groups with special attention to those who are at a socioeconomic disadvantage or are
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
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
Issues of culture are often controversial. LaBorde (2010) has noted that culture is always a factor in conflict. Ironically, conflict can provide nurses with an excellent opportunity for developing compassion that will lead nurses unto a place of meeting in which there is a deep respect for differences and equally intentional openness to the possibility of connection. Healthcare practitioners are confronted in a daily basis with the practical manifestation of these issues. In particular, nurses are more confronted by cultural issues than the other healthcare providers because nurses spend majority of their time with patients. However, some nurses are reluctant to confront and discuss the cultural issues because of lack of knowledge in dealing with patients of diverse cultures (Tjale & Villiers, 2004).
As a nurse, I am obligated to care for all cultures, and try to understand their values, beliefs, spirituality, gender roles, and language. Cultures can range from different families, environments, disabilities, or even genders. It is a very broad topic, and I hope to recognize these cultures in my nursing career. Some barriers may exist that can make it challenging to work with people of a different culture, but it is possible to overcome these with the resources within the health care system. The Health Policy Institute identifies that “[t]he goal of culturally competent health care services is to provide the highest quality of care to every patient, regardless of race, ethnicity, cultural background, English proficiency or literacy” (“Cultural Competence”, 2004). Additionally, cultural competence is an ongoing process that involves both the client, and health care professional to work together that best suits the client’s
Culture care is grounded within one’s worldview, which is shape by social structure factors such as religion, economics, cultural values, environmental context, ethnohistory, and language (Alligood, 2014; Sitzman & Eichelberger, 2015). Moreover, culture care share similarities and differences related to health and well-being, how individual deal with disability and death, as well as, when to seek relief from illnesses or distress. As culture plays a vital role in health care seeking habits and decision making, it is imperative for nurses to fully understand cultural knowledge. With increase cultural knowledge, nurses are better able to implement care plans that are beneficial to the patient with respect to their beliefs, values, and cultural
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.
Culture, as define by Giddens, is a “pattern of shared attitudes, beliefs, self-definitions, norms, roles, and values that can occur among those who speak a particular language, or live in a defined geographical region.” (Giddens, 2013, p. 29) When constructing a nursing care plan it is important to understand the patients’ cultural background to fully understand how to care for them. Depending on what culture the individual identifies with, will direct the nurse to which nursing interventions need implemented in regards to certain aspects of care including health care practices and beliefs, how the patient views developmental and family roles, how communication occurs between patient and provider and possibly if that patient has any health
Cultural genograms are useful in expanding one’s awareness of the effects of culture on an individual. In turn, this can aid in understanding how other people are a product of his or her culture as well. Cultural genograms are a beneficial tool in providing culturally competent care in nursing. It is essential to remember that there is not an individual culture that is considered to be correct or the standard, but that every culture has a unique view on practices in life. Being culturally sensitive is a critical element in providing culturally competent care.
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.
Understanding cultural differences not only improves the effectiveness of the treatment the patient receives, it is also help the nurse to prevent negliency of care. It is impostant to maintain a curiosity about each patient no matter how much we know abouth that person's culture.
233). She studied anthropology and applied the research findings in nursing. Later, she developed the theory of “culture care diversity and universality” from her personal experience as a nurse and other factors that influenced such as ethnic conflicts, commuting, and technology changes. It is illustrated and described by the Sunrise four-level model, and it is labeled as “an enabler” (Masters, 2014, p. 69). The first level represents a “worldview”, the second level presents “knowledge concerning individuals and groups”, the third level includes “specific features of care in the system”, and the fourth level is “specific nursing care” (Masters, 2014, p. 69; Jarošová, 2014, p. 47). The main purpose of this theory is “to generate knowledge related to the nursing care of people who value their cultural heritage” (McEwen & Wills, 2014, p. 233). The major concepts in this theory include: culture, culture care, and diversities and similarities and sub-concepts include care and caring, emic view (language expression, perceptions, beliefs, and practice), and etic view (universal language expressions beliefs and practices in regard to certain phenomena) (McEwen & Wills, 2014, p. 233). The base knowledge
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 "...