Importance Of Heritage Assessment

Register to read the introduction… A self-assessment was also performed by the author for additional comparison amongst traditions of the other families. Separate interviews were conducted with the primary questions as follows: 1. What kinds of health traditions exist within your family; 2. How do you maintain your health; 3. Once health is established, how do you protect it; and 4. After recovering from an illness, how do you restore your health? The family member was encouraged to elaborate with each answer regarding their cultural traditions. During the interview process, it was not difficult for the author to assess the level of knowledge each family member had about their own heritage. The importance of culture and heritage to a specific individual should be assessed when holistic information is collected, as it is valued to some more so than …show more content…
The tool is a short survey, with questions about family origins, religion, language, and ethnic activities. It is designed to determine how identified an individual is with traditional heritage (Spector, 2000). The author was unable to answer a small handful of questions, being that she does not practice a religion and does not participate in any ethnic activities. As a nurse dealing with pathophysiology of disease, medicine, rehabilitation, and other science, it is initially difficult to relate the assessment of one’s heritage with their health. When the nurse performs an assessment on a client, it is not complete until data regarding culture and heritage is obtained. Then she may evaluate her client’s needs. Familiarizing with different cultures and backgrounds allows a competent nurse to understand the needs of the person as a whole being: mind and spirit as well as the body. Spector’s tool (2000) can assist the nurse as well as the patient in addressing if there are needs to be met and how a patient centered plan of care can be developed to meet …show more content…
As a member of the healthcare profession, the author has assessed her own identification with heritage and compared it to that of other families finding similarities and differences. Nonetheless, every aspect of culture is important to the individual and must be respected in order to provide the best nursing care. Nurses are not just caring for a body, but also a mind and spirit all of which function together making up a whole person. Awareness and utilization of the proper tools and resources, such as the Heritage Assessment can assist nurses in the care of the whole