The Effect of Cultural Competence on Antepartum and Postpartum Nursing Care
Just as nursing care has evolved over the decades since Florence Nightingale, so has the patient population around the world. During the past forty years, the United States has become drastically more racially diverse (Lewallen, 2011, p. 5). Immigrants have taken their own cultures and values to other places, causing the population to have mixed cultures, beliefs, religions, traditions, and customs. Particularly in obstetrical care settings, it is common to find that the perception of childbearing and its experiences can vastly differ from one culture to the next. One of the biggest mistakes that a nurse can make is to assume that all childbearing women believe in the …show more content…
Since education is one of the major scopes of nursing, sympathy and knowledge of a client’s culture is an initiating factor into building a trusting, therapeutic relationship that promotes teamwork with the client and family. Culturally competent care should not be implemented because it is “politically correct,” but rather because it empowers childbearing women to make the best health care decisions for themselves and opens the door to holistic care practice (Wilson, 2011, p.12). When relaying quality nursing care back to the Florence Nightingale Pledge, it is important to remember to not be deleterious, but rather to be dedicated to the respect and dignity of clients by not following the faults of society, for it often misjudges others based on stereotypes and biases. The following discussions will explore cultures commonly encountered by healthcare …show more content…
It is important to take space and time into consideration when communicating with clients in order to build rapport. Some cultures are more comfortable with touch and smaller boundaries of personal space, while others are not. In addition, some childbearing women are more verbal and expressive than others. When addressing pain, Hispanic women and families may be more apt to addressing pain to the nurse, where as Asian women are reluctant to report pain because it is deemed shameful to their family (Fuller, 2012, p.44). Conflicts that arise due to communication discrepancies can be seen as offensive and uncaring; this innocent miscommunication can cause distrust between the client and nurse. According to Lewallen (2011), many immigrants may already be hesitant to trust those other than their own family, especially those of public authority and health care. Extreme empathy and understanding is needed to efficiently take care of these
Just as nursing care has evolved over the decades since Florence Nightingale, so has the patient population around the world. During the past forty years, the United States has become drastically more racially diverse (Lewallen, 2011, p. 5). Immigrants have taken their own cultures and values to other places, causing the population to have mixed cultures, beliefs, religions, traditions, and customs. Particularly in obstetrical care settings, it is common to find that the perception of childbearing and its experiences can vastly differ from one culture to the next. One of the biggest mistakes that a nurse can make is to assume that all childbearing women believe in the …show more content…
Since education is one of the major scopes of nursing, sympathy and knowledge of a client’s culture is an initiating factor into building a trusting, therapeutic relationship that promotes teamwork with the client and family. Culturally competent care should not be implemented because it is “politically correct,” but rather because it empowers childbearing women to make the best health care decisions for themselves and opens the door to holistic care practice (Wilson, 2011, p.12). When relaying quality nursing care back to the Florence Nightingale Pledge, it is important to remember to not be deleterious, but rather to be dedicated to the respect and dignity of clients by not following the faults of society, for it often misjudges others based on stereotypes and biases. The following discussions will explore cultures commonly encountered by healthcare …show more content…
It is important to take space and time into consideration when communicating with clients in order to build rapport. Some cultures are more comfortable with touch and smaller boundaries of personal space, while others are not. In addition, some childbearing women are more verbal and expressive than others. When addressing pain, Hispanic women and families may be more apt to addressing pain to the nurse, where as Asian women are reluctant to report pain because it is deemed shameful to their family (Fuller, 2012, p.44). Conflicts that arise due to communication discrepancies can be seen as offensive and uncaring; this innocent miscommunication can cause distrust between the client and nurse. According to Lewallen (2011), many immigrants may already be hesitant to trust those other than their own family, especially those of public authority and health care. Extreme empathy and understanding is needed to efficiently take care of these