Essay: Patients of different cultural backgrounds.

As nurses, we are working with patients of different cultural backgrounds. So we are expected to understand patients’ differences in their beliefs, norms, practices, and desires for medical care and take their perspectives into account when caring for them (Seal & Wiske, 2019).

Nurses can look at their own strengths and weaknesses when caring for others who come from a different culture (Seal & Wiske, 2019). Language is a common barrier, and if you have someone who speaks a different language, then try and get a translator to help communicate with that patient. Sometimes you may have to use a different form of communication like pictures or writing things down on a dry erase board because they can\’t verbalize what they want. With nursing, you have to be abatable to all kinds of situations to ensure you give the patient the best care possible.

Sometimes as nurses, we don\’t think about how we do things that could affect our patients\’ culture or beliefs. Like eye contact, just our everyday routine, touching the patient on the shoulder, personal space, and non-verbal communication can vary between cultures (Ferwerda, 2016). I recently had a patient that was a new admission into the hospital, and she was an older lady who didn\’t want to have any males helping her with any personal care. She was ok with males getting her vitals and getting her something to eat or drink, but when she needed to use the restroom or shower or help with dressing, she wanted to have a female help with those things. The younger generations may think nothing of it because they have just adapted to having male caregivers, but the older generations are not used to having a male other than their spouse seeing them.

Reference

Ferwerda, J. (2016, September 15). How to care for patients from different cultures. Nurse.org. https://nurse.org/articles/how-to-deal-with-patients-with-different-cultures/.

Seal, N., & Wiske, M. (2019, February 28). 5 ways to improve cultural competence in nursing care. Minority Nurse. https://minoritynurse.com/5-ways-to-improve-cultural-competence-in-nursing-care/.

Discussion response 2 Amber

The culture of nursing is that of accepting different beliefs, cultures, and values. Nurses are the patient advocate and are responsible for not only making sure the patient is getting effective care but also that they\’re personal beliefs and cultures are not being ignored. Nurses typically bring a sense of \”teamwork\” to the job. I believe all of these factors affects the patient and their visit greatly. If a patient visits the ER and the nurse does not take the time to understand their beliefs when it comes to their own health the patient may be less likely to take an active role in their well-being, resulting in a poor outcome. If there is a problem between nurses or other medical staff, a patient may be able to pick up on that and feel less comfortable with their care during their stay. If a nurse does not check their own bias at the door and treats a patient differently because of the patients beliefs or culture, that could also have a negative impact on the patient. Luckily, I have never had to witness this or be around this in my practice so far.

https://www.registerednursing.org/nclex/cultural-awareness-influences-health/