Nurses bear a huge responsibility for helping to guide the caring process. People hold to various beliefs and attitudes regarding health and wellness, death and dying, mental illness, elderly care, as well as diet and nutrition. Whatever the belief, the main goal is to provide adequate care. Typical patterns of communication are between nurse and care provider as well as nurse and patient and nurse to nurse to coordinate planning. Understanding how and when care should be provided is central to communication within this field.
Nurses must also know how to work in a culturally diversity environment. Central to that is being able to see and treat each patient as a unique individual. Patient-centered care induces many questions including how to handle different situations especially when language is a barrier. However, a nurse can be diligent to do her homework on each patient before tending to him or her and their family.
For example, a new immigrant family with a newborn child will require assistance with the labor process as well as care and feeding after the child is born. A family with teenage children who’s father has been diagnosed with diabetes will require a different set of skills including listening, being knowledgeable about facts and incorporating the children into the healing process. Within the culture group I choose for example in Nigeria, many of the common health needs such as clean water and sterilization are lacking in abundance. I can assist the members of a family by helping them to understand methods of health prevention. If someone has a pre-existing condition, I can help guide them to proper facilities and provide care myself where possible as well as let them know what plans are available to them. Learning more about this group by listening to their needs will help me to create a better plan to understand each person within the cultural group I choose.
- Campinha-Bacote, J., (May 31, 2011) “Delivering Patient-Centered Care in the Midst of a Cultural Conflict: The Role of Cultural Competence” OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing Vol. 16, No. 2, Manuscript 5.
- Ofi, B. and Sowunmi, O. (2012), Nursing documentation: Experience of the use of the nursing process model in selected hospitals in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Int J Nurs Pract, 18: 354–362. doi:10.1111/j.1440-172X.2012.02044.x
- Zamanzadeh, V., Valizadeh, L., Tabrizi, F. J., Behshid, M., & Lotfi, M. (2015). Challenges associated with the implementation of the nursing process: A systematic review. Iranian Journal of Nursing and Midwifery Research, 20(4), 411–419. http://doi.org/10.4103/1735-9066.161002
