Congruent Care Interview

Born in Guadalajara, Mexico, Maria Avina relocated with her family to Amarillo, Texas from our neighboring country. Maria, my 20 year old roommate, sat across from me dutifully working on her Calculus 3 homework, jokingly second guessing her choice of being a Mechanical Engineering major. Although she is a permanent resident of the United States, Maria hold strong ties with her mother country, keeping up with news regarding the country and its people. More recently, immigration and healthcare has been a huge topic of discussion in our household, so, understandably, I could not think of another person better to conduct this interview with. Curious to hear her answers, I excitedly shot off with the first question, “Are people from Mexico living in America treated any different when receiving healthcare?” Maria nodded her head, “I have personally witnessed my family members get treated differently when it came to us receiving healthcare due to the fact that we were immigrants from a different country, “(M. Avina, personal communication, 11/4/2015). She explained that …show more content…
Maria believes that nurses can provide appropriate care for culturally diverse patients if they see everyone as equal, “Although, the first people we see is the nurse. I, as a patient, assume that the nurse is being bias, when in reality he or she is only doing their job” (M. Avina, personal communication, (11/4/2015). Asking her to elaborate, she explains that she thinks it all starts from the top, “It’s the healthcare facilities and hospitals that need to improve their way of picking and choosing who gets treated first,” she continued, “ respect is a big thing too, because nurses can learn how to respect us. Sometimes, when we’re at the hospital, I don’t feel respected. Nurses can learn to do that, that’ll help,” (M. Avina, personal communication,