The development of the US has benefited greatly from culture. Migration to the country increased dramatically after World War II. Cultural interaction has resulted from the racial and ethnic variety brought about by immigration. There are presently many diverse cultures present in the United States. A culture’s traditional cuisine, medicinal and healing methods, and health beliefs may all be known and understood, which can improve advanced nursing practice. Because certain epidemiological studies have a stronger emphasis on health concerns connected to culture, the term “cultural epidemiology” has gained popularity in recent years. Throughout the curriculum, the cultural aspect of nursing practices – in the context given – has been incorporated significantly, referring to the themes below.
During the course, an emphasis has been made on ways nurses can advance their cross-cultural skills. To improve patient outcomes, nurses should be able to recognize culture and values, attitudes, and traditions, as well as proactively alter treatment strategies appropriately. When gathering a patient’s history, utilizing a cross-cultural interview can encourage the development of a connection that is gratifying, encouraging, and trustworthy. As a healthcare professional, one should also keep in mind to ask about the patient’s usage of alternative therapies, as these treatments might help the patient regain their health. Nurses may become proficient practitioners for eliminating health inequalities in the community with the use of transcultural education.
In the curriculum, it was stressed that culturally informed nurses are more inclined to offer caring treatment. They are capable of building relations with the patient’s family by getting to know and appreciate their cultural views. Without transcultural training, healthcare professionals run the risk of unintentionally causing their patient’s cultural discomfort. Advanced practice nurses who have received cross-cultural training are more likely to deliver culturally appropriate care that will be well-received by patients and produce better medical outcomes.
Culture has a built-in impact on health and the chance of contracting an illness. Through knowledge, healthcare professionals’ prejudices and stereotyped views of a culture might be lessened. In Chapter 10 of the coursebook, we learned more about the food choices, conventional medical procedures, and health beliefs unique to a few nations (Macha & McDonough, 2011). Learning these pieces of information will help better diagnose patients and plan interactions with them. It can also help in identifying the cause of an incidence and perhaps alter the course of global epidemiological problems.
Depending on culture, accessibility to modern treatment, and economic standing, healthcare practices vary among organizations. Each culture has created its own ways and systems for treating disease over years of experience. The advantages of several supplementary and alternative therapies, as well as allopathic treatments, are now being compared by researchers, which was explored during the curriculum. Nurses should keep in mind to question patients about their encounters with other health systems’ methods and the usage of herbal medications when obtaining their medical history.
The presented above aspects were explored throughout the curriculum, which can be considered as a solid theoretical foundation for developing cross-cultural skills for nurses and other healthcare practitioners. The focus has been made on various approaches to understanding different cultural peculiarities of patients, shedding light on the importance of culture in the clinical setting. However, it seems that the curriculum could have been enhanced within the scope given. For instance, the course can offer more practical opportunities to learn how cultural intelligence helps nurses in their everyday practice by assisting them for a few days.
Reference
Macha, K., & McDonough, J. P. (2011). Epidemiology for advanced nursing practice. Jones & Bartlett Learning.