Cultural Responsibility In Nursing

My second semester as a nursing student offered insight to a variety of situations that occur that require you to follow your ethical obligations rather than relying on personal moral values. I experienced this while at the Western Community Day Care when a five year old received a soda to drink early in the morning from her mother. The mother’s logic behind this decision was to supply her daughter with something high in sugar to wake her up; although I can understand her reasoning, I extremely disagree with her decision since certain foods are more stable and healthy than soda. It was very tempting to take the soda away from the child and give her something else instead. Despite my personal beliefs, it would have been unethical of me to go …show more content…
It is common for those not exposed to certain lifestyles and environments to be unaware of how different populations live; however, nursing is a profession that deals with caring for individuals from diverse circumstances. This gives nurses experience with a vast number of cultures and promotes the practice of culture sensitivity. During my clinical rotation this semester, I experienced culture sensitivity at the Philadelphia Senior Center. While at the Senior Center, I had a conversation with an elderly man who became homeless as of result of unemployment and losing his family. Although I cannot personally relate to him because I have not gone through the same things he has, I was able to gain insight to what he has gone through and feel empathetic. Through our conversation, I realized the financial difficulties associated with becoming unemployed and the stress associated with not having a stable source of shelter and food. This experience influenced my cultural development by allowing me to become more understanding of those from different cultural backgrounds and the different factors that contribute to the living conditions of different populations. The poverty simulation provided examples of these influences, such as unemployment, single parenting, teen pregnancy, and disabilities. During the simulation, it was difficult to ration money to ensure that monthly bills and necessities (food, clothing, etc.) were paid. In addition to this, it was stressful to pay for everything within a certain period because of the lack of resources available. The bank, pawnshops, and other services were often times closed or the hours they were open conflicted with work and school schedules. This experience allowed me to have an understanding of what those in lower income populations go through and to gain appreciation for all of the hard work that they do in order to provide for themselves and their