Book Critique: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Culture creates morals, values, and beliefs within an individual, and these characteristics must be understood and respected. Anne Fadiman brings this issue to light in her book, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. Common culture-barriers in the medical field can cause medical malpractice, disagreements on necessary procedures, and religion malpractice. Throughout her novel, Fadiman explains that the difficulties in cross-cultural treatment is due to two cultures having different morals and beliefs, and of course a language-barrier between the doctor(s) and patient(s).…
For public health professionals to be successful there should be a happy medium between the cultural practices of the individual’s culture and the medical practices of…
As a result, the call for cultural competency in healthcare was born out of the need to better understand the prevailing beliefs, social practices, and norms of any community, and which could impact health delivery and outcomes (Betancourt,…
Through taking the Quality and Culture Quiz, I learned that I am not as culturally sensitive or aware of the customs and beliefs of other cultures as I previously believed I was. Additionally, I learned that a deficit in cultural competence can affect not only relationships with patients, but also “impede the process of making an accurate diagnosis, cause the provider to order contraindicated medication, and reduce adherence with recommended treatment” (Quality and Culture Quiz, n.d., pp. 1). While two of my grandparents immigrated to America from other countries, my family has adopted the Western lifestyle and associated with traditions, beliefs and values that represent the Western culture.…
Throughout the practice of medicine, cultural perspective has played a role in the treatment of an individual. Today in an age of interconnectedness around the world, a medical practitioner will come into contact with an abundance of new and different beliefs and attitudes on health. This need for a holistic look at cultural elements on medical practices has become more relevant with the increase of refugees and immigrants being treated within American health centers in order to care for each patient with the care they need. The idea of taking the patient's own cultural beliefs into mind is cross-cultural medicine.…
In United States, the nation is increasing its diversity with populations of different ethnicities as well as cultures. Cultural competence allows healthcare organizations to provide effective methods and services of understanding and treating people with different backgrounds such as people of different cultures, demographics and languages. With many differences in population, there are disparities that must be eliminated in order to promote a better comprehension of people as well as promote better health. Today, using cultural competence to decrease health disparities maintains the top priority for United States health system to accomplish.…
Caring for diverse patients is sometimes frustrating. Not only is it a challenge to care for them, but it is also a challenge for us because we have to be able to change our way of thinking and learn to listen to our diverse patients and respect their culture. The purpose of this paper is to explain the components of a comprehensive cultural assessment, preparing a care plan for a culturally diverse patient with a new diagnosis, along choosing two components and reflect on my culture along with how it impacts my attitude toward those aspects of providing care. Comprehensive Cultural Assessment Components When assessing a patient that immigrated to the United States, it is important to know and understand that the patients bring with them their customs,…
Increasing Diversity in Nursing With the growth of a population filled with different ethnicities, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, social views, social status, generational age gaps, and culture beliefs to list a few, the need to understand and support these unique differences as it relates to providing health care cannot be ignored. To improve the health and well-being of the nation’s people seeking medical care, a call to increase the diversity of the nursing workforce must be answered. To address the issue of increasing diversity in the nursing population, actions to address an increase in the diversity of student enrollment, retention of the academic student nurse, and recruitment by healthcare organizations during the hiring process of qualified professional nurses with diverse backgrounds is necessary. Diversity in College and University Recruitment for the Student Nurse…
Alvord’s methods for demonstrating cultural competence are powerful and effective. They aim to treat patients to lead a balanced life, as respect for cultural differences aids in preventing an imbalance among the mind, body, and soul (Alvord & Van Pelt, 2000). In our progressively diverse society, reduction of ethnocentric thinking could vastly improve public health, as patients would be treated as the unique individuals they are. In implementing effective communication, providers can utilize active listening to learn more about the cultural desires and boundaries of the patient. Providers can subsequently show respect for the culture and build the trust of the patient.…
In society today, it is crucial for an individual, in the healthcare field, to be aware of other cultures and religions. With this said, it is important to practice cultural awareness and to practice a professional culture understanding. As future nurses, a key component of nursing education is to seek more knowledge about the patient’s culture to better help in caring for our patients. Anne Fadiman’s book, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, allows the audience to relive the Lee’s story. They were a Hmong refugee family that sought treatment from the health care system in Merced, California.…
Eradicating or diminishing thoughts of superiority because of the cultural and educational gaps between healthcare providers their patient’s is necessary when aiming for patient centered care. Approaching patients with opposing cultural views with an open mind and a sense of equality rather than that of superiority can make patients feel more welcome and willing to accept recommendations even when such recommendations go against their beliefs. In addition, building the skills necessary to have the ability to explain and communicate differently in a way that is easy to comprehend depending on the audience (i.e., a child or someone who does not speak the language) is something that all healthcare providers should aim for. By integrating such practices in the healthcare environment, nurses along with other healthcare providers have the potential to make all care patient centered and patient…
Cultural assessments are important in identifying exclusive necessities a patient may present with. In this paper I 'm going to discuss the key components of conducting a comprehensive cultural assessment. I will then go on to choose two of these components and reflect on my culture and how it impacts my attitude towards those aspects of providing cultural diverse care. Finally, I will create two nursing diagnosis is that reflect cultural diversity. Key Components of a Comprehensive Cultural Assessment There are twelve key components of conducting a comprehensive cultural assessment which include biocultural variations and aspects of the incidence of disease, communication, cultural affiliation, cultural sanctions and restrictions, developmental considerations, economics, education background, health related beliefs, kinship and social networks, nutrition, religion and spirituality, and values orientation.…
Conducting cultural assessments on each individual patient is a necessity in nursing. This paper will describe some of the key components of conducting a comprehensive cultural assessment. I will also choose two of the listed components and reflect on my own culture and how it could possibly impact my attitude toward a patient of a different culture. Lastly, I will create two nursing diagnoses, for a patient who comes into a physician’s office that I work for, with a newly diagnosed problem. These diagnoses will reflect cultural diversity that might pose a barrier to communication with this patient.…
This is important to identify because when caring for patients it is easy to unconsciously judge and stereotype patients. Due to judgement by healthcare providers, the rapport and mutual respect may not develop with the patient. Holding personal judgements as a healthcare provider against a patient can have a negative impact on patient healthcare and overall well-being. As reflected in Bryson’s article the patient’s demeanour changes when the nurse’s cares for the patient in a culturally safe manner. Everyone’s cultural identity is different, and the healthcare needs will vary with each patient.…
Culture “determines the lens through which all other aspects of life are viewed and experienced and includes an individual’s health beliefs and practices” (Black, 2017, p. 250). I need to be sensitive to the cultural differences of my fellow health care professionals. Culture is influenced by ones family, past experiences, and religious beliefs. We are all different, so I must remain open-minded and increase my knowledge base of other cultures around me. My fellow health care professionals and myself have a common goal, to improve patient outcomes and health.…