HELP PLEASE, this question is stumping me.

himilayaneyes · Apr 30, 2011

You're american and you're caucasian. That's a culture. It affects how you interact with people, how you speak with them, certain cultural colloquialisms. How would you interact with a patient if you were from India or Jamaica vs. white American? How would someone who speaks a foreign language and just came to this country if someone told them to break a leg? I live in south FL so I'm exposed to many cultures. I am a carribean american myself. Best of luck to you.

ShinyAndNewNurse · Apr 30, 2011

With your culture...American....it can bring you closer to the patients that come from the same backgound. You may understand and communicate with them easier. And for those patients that are different from you, you can appreciate the differences and be aware that some things in your culture may be offensive to them and visa versa.

It ultimately shapes your career because you, as a nurse will come in contact with all different cultures. And your pateints will see you in a certain way. Through communication, openmindedness and understanding you will enhance your capablities as a nurse, and do not have to be defined by your culture.

I dont know if this makes any sense but I hope it helps...=P

Sugarcoma, RN · Apr 30, 2011

What about religion? What is your religious affiliation? What area of the country did you grow up in? What is your families ancestry? I just had to do a similar assignment and I talked about growing up in the midwest and what type of values and cultural norms are prevalent in the area. I also talked about the culture of my familes religious preferences and my original ancestry (Irish/Italian) and how that affects my interactions with patients. One of the things I can see right off from your post is that you grew up middle class. Do you think that might pose some difficulties in how you relate to patients of low socioeconomic status, like maybe you could say something along the lines of you were not aware of how poverty affects the choices patients make because you yourself never had to struggle with them. EX: choosing to fill a prescription or buy food etc.

nurse.sandi · Apr 30, 2011

Culture can be based on values and morals. Just because you believe something to be so..does not mean it really is. and vice versa. Culture can be observed in many ways.. verbal language, body language, spacial difference, special diets, religion, eye contact, manners, etc. An organization can have a culture of thier own. Different nationalities have different cultures.The norm for one culture may not be the norm for another culture. This is where diversity plays a role. In today's health care you will be working with a diverse group of people. Your patients will be diverse however also individuals. Just some thoughts off the top of my head. Good luck on your assignment.

GRUNGE · Apr 30, 2011

One way a persons culture can effect their nursing care is by creating bias. We must be able to stop ourself from thinking that our way of life(culture) is superior and understand that to the pt their way is superior. Ex. An atheist nurse judging a jehovas witnes because they wont let their dying child recive blood. It can be hard for the atheist(or other religion) to be a true advocate and advocate for that patients beleif. There also cultural belifes as far as pain and how its managed.

chiandre · Apr 30, 2011

i think that you are on the right track. as a caucasian, middle-class nurse, you will encounter so many cultures that are so different from yours. to be able to provide a culturally congruent care to your patients, you have to:

1. identify with a culture (you did that)

2. honestly acknowledge any biases you may have

3. compare how your culture differs from your patients,

colleagues and co-workers cultures

4. genuinely start learning about the cultures of your patients and co-workers

good luck with your essay!

nursing.mypassion · Apr 30, 2011

I'd suggest you do some research on how other ethnic groups like blacks, asians, latinos, other religious views look at diseases and view their lives in terms of pain, time, life, family cohesion, autonomy, informed consent, freedom. Then, you'll realize how different you are. That will help you answer the question. I hope it helps.

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Apr 30, 2011

What is your religious affliaton? Could you care for someone having an abortion or admnister medication that will cause a patient to abort?

http://www.rhtp.org/abortion/methotrexate/default.asp

How would you feel If you were caring for a very sick child that the parents are untrustworthy of Western medicine and practice Eastern medicine pratices such as "cupping and coining" and are very suspicious of you and medicine?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_cupping

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gua_Sha

How would you feel if a patient refuses blood or blood products but requires open heart?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah's_Witnesses_and_blood_transfusions

There are many different death practices and beliefs that are practiced by families and how your you feel or react?

http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/samhainoctober31/a/CaringForDead.htm

How does a patients socioeconomic background affect your treatment of them? You have migrant workers, homeless families, immigrant families that may or may not be........ illegal....that use the ED as their primary care bcause they can't afford to go to the dotor and they know they won't be turned away frm the ED because the know it the law to treat them........how does that make you feel?

http://udallcenter.arizona.edu/immigration/publications/fact_sheet_no_2_health_care_costs.pdf

These are just a few suggestions to get you going....goodluck!!!!

canesdukegirl, BSN, RN · Apr 30, 2011

What a tough question! The way you view it can leave you stumped...when you were little, did you ever listen to someone from another country speak, and then think, "Wow, they have a funny accent!"? You can view your question the same way...if we went to another country, they may think that WE are the ones with a funny accent! It boils down to perception.

Your culture and your upbringing ABSOLUTELY affect how you treat your patients. The smallest things you do and your knee-jerk reaction to things come from the basis of your culture. For example, you have a pt with a fever. They are from a culture in which they believe that to medicate a fever would be counterproductive to the body's mechanism of killing the virus/bacteria by increasing its temperature. But we are not taught that in nursing school, and proceed with administering Tylenol. We didn't have to go to nursing school to get the idea that Tylenol is the preferred method to decreasing a temp-your parents did this for you when you were little.

When you have a pt who is tearful, you want to comfort them immediately. This may be by sitting down and listening to them, making eye contact and perhaps placing your hand on their shoulder, or on top of their hand. We learned that this was an acceptable comfort measure when we were young. It may not be acceptable in other cultures to make eye contact, to touch, or even to acknowledge tears.

In our culture, it is the norm for pregnant women to have male OB/GYNs. In other cultures, this would be considered extremely offensive.

The bottom line is that you, being a white middle class female have been taught comfort measures during your upbringing. These measures have been instilled in you and you deliver care to your pts based on the social norms that you learned. Can you think of anything that your family does that shows support for one another? A quick hug, a simple card, a surprise vase of flowers? What do your family members say to one another for encouragement? Take some of the things that you remember and examine how you mimic these behaviors in relation to your care in nursing. You might be surprised!

I hope this helps to some degree. It is a challenging question!

RHIA, RN · Apr 30, 2011

It could be something as simple as:

In my own culture, traditionally, we do not look someone we respect (elders, doctors, teachers etc.) in the eye-ever! The matriarch does all the speaking as far as health care is concerned.

However, I was not raised traditionally and I now work in a tribal facility so I have had to learn how to handle the traditional families and the families that have adopted anglo life styles.

ABM1227 · Apr 30, 2011

I had a similar question presented to me in my OB class. One thing I learned about myself was that I have a bias against fathers not participating in the birth of their children. Our culture tends to promote the fathers involvment in the labor and delivery process.

Just try to think about things other cultures may believe that you dont agree with. Try to acknowledge your personal judgements and biases. How do you feel about woman who don't breastfeed, natural childbirth? What about parents who don't stay in the hospital with their children? what about families who don't want to donate their loved ones organs? what about jahova's witnesses who refuse to accept any kind of blood transfusions-even if it means life or death.

There are many different ways to go about answering these kinds of questions, its a great tool to help you look within yourself and discover areas that you feel strongly about that could negatively affect your outlook on your patients.