Cultural diversity
Just look around, and
the sudden realization hits home regarding the explosion of culture that is
taking place in our society. This change in the ethnic and
cultural composition of the population, not only continually challenge the nurse
to ensure quality of care in meeting the diverse needs of the clients, but also
competence in relating to the diverse population in the classroom, being a
student. This has now created a sense of urgency for the inclusion of cultural
diversity in the nursing curricula. The necessity in preparing and assisting nursing
students to be able to meet the health needs of a culturally diverse population
is of utmost importance. It must also never be overlooked that society expects
nurses to be culturally competent in response to the increasing prevalence of
diverse people entrusted to their care (Lowe, & Archibald, 2009). It is the
hope that the inclusion of this course will not only create awareness but also
provide training to ensure the nurse upon graduation is able to provide
culturally competent care.
Reference
Lowe, J. & Archibald, C. (2009). Cultural
diversity: The intention of nursing. Nursing
forum, 44(1), 11-18
Cultural influence can be a major barrier for families in the hospital our job is to plan for interventions that can be used. Pender, Murdaugh, and Parsons (2011) imply vulnerable populations have characteristics that have to be assessed in order for mutual goals to be realized. There are 4 characteristics that deal with culturally relevant intervention strategies for vulnerable populations (Pender, Murdaugh, & Parsons, 2011). A culture that is frequently found in my hospital is Hispanic. There are three strategies that I would use to care for this culture group. The first is the access/acceptance of health promotion programs. One would be to keep in mind that they are catholic, so I would call the priest to visit them in daily while in the hospital as the belief that health is a gift from God. A second strategy I would use is communication especially since my Spanish is limited. I would use an interpreter that is not a family member as the subject matter may not be translated accurately because of particularly private areas, especially between the waist and the knees. The third strategy is family relationships. One would keep in mind that the male in the family is the authority. They consider the woman to be the maternal powerhouse of the home and the family unit depends on her well-being. In order to plan for behavior change health care providers must be able to assess cultural differences.
ReplyDeleteReferences
Pender, N. J., Murdaugh, C.L., & Parsons, M. (2011) Health promotion in nursing practice (6th ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.