KOREAN PRENATAL CARE

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KOREAN PRENATAL CARE

The field of nursing consists of many aspects in terms of care. The Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice (AACN, 1998) details the need for culturally competent practice due to changing needs within health care. It describes the nurse's role in providing “care to an increasingly diverse population”. For this assignment we will cover cultural competence of the Korean cultural and prenatal care traditions. According to the University of Hawaii at Hilo, it is important to focus on the comparative study and analysis of different cultures and subcultures in the world, with respect to their caring behavior; nursing care; health-illness values, beliefs and patterns of behavior. In the Korean culture family values tie together heavily with religious beliefs.

Generally Koreans lead a conservative and family-centered life, deeply rooted in Confucianism, which emphasizes harmony within a prescribed hierarchy (Rupnow, 2001). Many Korean Americans, especially older adults, believe practice of religious faith as an effective avenue for prevention and cure. When it comes to forming a family, the Korean culture believes in marriage as a unity of being one. Family welfare is much more important than the needs of the individual. After marriage, the wife moves in with the husband’s family and is responsible to care for his family. After conception, the roles change and the mother of the husband is responsible for the care of the now pregnant wife.

The importance of understanding other cultures has to do a lot with the movement of immigrants into the U.S. It is extremely important for members of the healthcare community to be aware of different aspects of care in other cultures. According...

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Kim-Rupnow, W. S. (2011). An Introduction to Korean Culture for Rehabilitation Service Providers. Center for International Rehabilitation Research Information & Exchange. Retrieved March 27, 2011, from http://cirrie.buffalo.edu

Moore, J. (2005, October 7). Hawai'i Community College. Hawai’i Community College. Retrieved March 26, 2011, from http://www.hawcc.hawaii.edu

Simpson, K. R., & Creehan, P. A. (2008). Integrating cultural Belief and Practice when Caring for Childbearing Women and Families. Perinatal Nursing (pp. 37, 38, 44). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

University of Hawaii at Hilo. (2011). University of Hawaii at Hilo. Retrieved March 26, 2011, from http://www.uhh.hawaii.edu

Welcome to AACN. (2011).Welcome to AACN. Retrieved March 26, 2011, from http://www.aacn.nche.edu

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