Cultural and Ethinic Considerations in Nursing

[txwildflower57]

Hi everyone,

I am a Level IV nursing student and I am in the process of doing a research/change paper. I have chosen the topic of Cultural/Ethinic Considerations in Nursing. I need a little input to determine if this idea would be of help or just another pain for everyone.

In the recent years and during nursing school we have been taught that due to the changing diversity of cultures and ethnicities in our communities that we as nurses have to know and take into consideration the differences concerning healthcare, religion, food preferences, and other things that we ourselves may not have any knowledge about all these different patients.

My idea is to implement a database that would give the information to all personnel in a facility about the different cultures, ethnicities, and religious preferences.

Would it be a benefit to you if when you received a new patient you were given a specific list for that patient with prompt questions so you would have a better understanding of their beliefs, customs, and religious restrictions? As an example: Kosher Jewish; I understand that dairy and meats are not suppose to be served together or that the two should never have been put on the same plates. If this is true this questionaire would provide that information and it could be forwarded to Nutrition services so they could serve this patient's food on disposable trays and cultery.

Would this help or would you feel that it was just more paperwork to fill out?

I recently heard an interesting story about Gypsies in the Houston Texas area. Every year they converge on the medical center downtown and camp on the lawns for several weeks. If anyone of them become a patient they will place a pile of dirt under the bed because they believe that their illness must be passed into the soil to be healed. It is the nursing staffs responsibility to make sure that housekeeping does not remove that dirt until that patient is discharged. None of my faculty had ever heard of this either and that was one of the reasons I decided to research and develop a database to provide this information to help nurses and other medical personnel.

Please let me know your opinion very soon. I am working on this paper this week and have to turn it in on March 23rd.

Thanks everyone.

[Equinox_93]

Holistic care IS a part of nursing.

You could sum this "class" up in about 10 seconds. Treat others how you would want to be treated. There you go, A for the day. Seriously, this kind of ****** is why new grads have to go through hospital orientation programs to learn how to be a nurse. If Nursing Educators really want to be teaching this cultural diversity crap then they should at least cover useful topics...such as pharmacokinetic/dynamic differences that are apparent among different races, why some classes of meds work on one group and not well on another. At least you could apply that to nursing. Actually, that would be a helpful database for you to put together. You could probably even get it written up in the ANA journal.

[Equinox_93]

... So what if they believe dirt under their bed will help them get better? Does it matter? If it makes them feel better about it and if their beliefs offer them a happier life- IMO that's all that matters. Isn't that what we all want- a better/happier life? Education isn't everything. You can have all the education you can cram into your skull and still be a miserable prat. Is being a miserable prat better because education trumps happiness?

As for staff indulging these beliefs- holistic care is part of nursing. Period. There are limits of what can be effectively and safely done in a facility setting- but that doesn't mean we shouldn't do what we can and be respectful.

You know what really gets me about this stuff? Take the example the OP gave about one group that supposedly needs to have dirt under their bed. Let's face it, that's a folk superstition dating back from more primitive times. There is no scientific data that supports this, it sounds ridiculous, and probably the people who actually subscribe to that belief are uneducated people.

First of all, I'll bet that ethnic group consists of more than uneducated hillbillies that are following medieval beliefs. Yet these cultural diversity pundits paint these ethnic groups with broad strokes and stereotypes. They actually make non-white people from other countries (except for white hillbillies from Appalachia) sound like superstitious peasants.

Secondly, I see no reason for the healthcare system to indulge people's outrageous superstitions. These people sound like they have severe knowledge deficits. Why should healthcare workers be expected to guard dirt under the bed in a hospital? I think that's outrageous. Let these people put their dirt in a box and put a sign on it themselves not to touch it, just like other people leave their slippers under the bed.

[Saifudin]

I think this depends on the locality and the people living in it. Generally, staff get to know various ethnic, cultural and religious needs. Often times you will find employees with the same lifestyles so they become a good resource. In NYC for example, where I am from, so many cultures are represented that staff, at least in my experience are use to a pretty wide variety of things.

In areas where someones beliefs are unique to the community, they need to speak up if able but if feeling shy or uncomfortable to do so, I think we should take it upon ourselves to ask if there are any diet preferences, medication concerns, etc. But, I would never think to ask a gypsy if they need dirt under the bed. By the way, what does a gypsy look like?

When I was in NP practice and as a Muslim, one of our team physicians would call me about questions related to Muslims and medications. For example, a patient was fasting and was asthmatic. The doc wanted to know if the patient could use an inhaler. (Yes, you can). Sometimes, even patients don't know for sure or have wrong information.

But, I agree that it would become to difficult to know very esoteric beliefs.