Discuss a patient of another culture. How can the health care professional communicate in presenting patient education? Consider language, family, cultural differences, and methods of communication.

Discuss a patient of another culture. How can the health care professional communicate in presenting patient education? Consider language, family, cultural differences, and methods of communication.

Cultural Competency in Nursing

Nurses should be aware of the patients’ culture regarding race, beliefs, and values while providing care to provide the best care to patients. A white American nurse providing care to an African American immigrant from Somalia should be able to identify the culture of the patient in terms of language, beliefs, and language. The patient, in this case, may not be able to speak proper English and have different beliefs and values, especially regarding treatment. Apart from not speaking proper English, the patient’s beliefs may be against the use of certain treatments, such as blood transfusion. Nurses should understand that culture is essential in health, and therefore, they should respect diversity in terms of language and traditions to provide the best care to patients. A culturally competent nurse should have a positive attitude towards other cultures and have relevant skills and knowledge to deal with cultural differences (Sharifi, Adib-Hajbaghery & Najafi, 2019). Education of the patient through effective communication is essential to deal with cultural differences in nursing.

Proper and effective communication during patient education improves the cultural competency of the nurses. The culture of the patient may be against the use of certain modern treatment methods, and therefore, the nurse should explain to the patient and the family members the benefits of the treatments with relevant evidence (Markey & Okantey, 2019). Therefore, effective communication is key in alleviating anxiety and increasing the knowledge of the patient and the family members (Hemberg & Vilander, 2017). The nurse should first acknowledge that culture differs and use evidence in teaching the relatives. The patient and families should be aware of the differences in culture and why the culture differs. Nurses should have communication skills because communication while teaching should be clear.

Proper and clear communication leads to proper nursing intervention and treatment options. With clear communication, the patient can understand why there are cultural differences and accept the best treatment option or intervention. The nurse should communicate using simple language, and in case the patient does not understand the language, then there should be an interpretation for the patient to understand (Hemberg & Vilander, 2017). The nurse should also avoid using medical terms when teaching the patient and the relatives. Face-to-face communication with simple language is the best method to improve cultural competency when caring for a patient from a different culture.

References

Hemberg, J. A. V., & Vilander, S. (2017). Cultural and communicative competence in the caring relationship with patients from another culture. Scandinavian journal of caring sciences31(4), 822-829. https://doi.org/10.1111/scs.12403

Markey, K., & Okantey, C. (2019). Nurturing cultural competence in nurse education through a values-based learning approach. Nurse education in practice38, 153-156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2019.06.011

Sharifi, N., Adib-Hajbaghery, M., & Najafi, M. (2019). Cultural competence in nursing: A concept analysis. International journal of nursing studies99, 103386. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2019.103386

 

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