Cultural Assessment - Nursing
Cultural Assessment
The population of the United States is continually rising. The birth rate continues to rise, but more importantly, the number of foreign-born immigrants that relocated to the United States in 2003 was a staggering 33.5 million, and that number rises every year (Jarvis, 2008). With such a large immigrant population comes the need for medical professionals that are culturally competent. Being culturally competent means that the caregivers, “understand and attend to the total context of the individual’s situation, including awareness of immigration status, stress factors, other social factors, and cultural similarities and differences” (Jarvis, 2008, p.38). Because the United States is so diverse, it is a federal law that all caregivers must be culturally competent. It should be noted, however, that is not something that can be accomplished so easily. It is a process that can take a lifetime. To become culturally competent one must have knowledge in several areas. These include, but are not limited to, knowing one’s own personal heritage, the heritage of the nursing profession, the heritage of the health care system, and the heritage of the patient (Jarvis, 2008). When performing a cultural assessment of an individual one must take into account five important aspects of the individual’s heritage. These aspects will give the nurse an idea of the patient’s heritage consistency. First, is the individual’s culture. Everyone has a culture. There are four basic characteristics of culture. First, it is learned; from birth one is learning the language and socialization of that culture. Second, it is shared. All the members of the same group share that culture. Third, it is adapted. Culture adapts to environmental and technical factors, as well as the groups availability to natural resources. Finally, it is dynamic. Meaning, it is always changing (Jarvis, 2008).
The second aspect of one’s heritage is ethnicity. This is a group within the
The population of the United States is continually rising. The birth rate continues to rise, but more importantly, the number of foreign-born immigrants that relocated to the United States in 2003 was a staggering 33.5 million, and that number rises every year (Jarvis, 2008). With such a large immigrant population comes the need for medical professionals that are culturally competent. Being culturally competent means that the caregivers, “understand and attend to the total context of the individual’s situation, including awareness of immigration status, stress factors, other social factors, and cultural similarities and differences” (Jarvis, 2008, p.38). Because the United States is so diverse, it is a federal law that all caregivers must be culturally competent. It should be noted, however, that is not something that can be accomplished so easily. It is a process that can take a lifetime. To become culturally competent one must have knowledge in several areas. These include, but are not limited to, knowing one’s own personal heritage, the heritage of the nursing profession, the heritage of the health care system, and the heritage of the patient (Jarvis, 2008). When performing a cultural assessment of an individual one must take into account five important aspects of the individual’s heritage. These aspects will give the nurse an idea of the patient’s heritage consistency. First, is the individual’s culture. Everyone has a culture. There are four basic characteristics of culture. First, it is learned; from birth one is learning the language and socialization of that culture. Second, it is shared. All the members of the same group share that culture. Third, it is adapted. Culture adapts to environmental and technical factors, as well as the groups availability to natural resources. Finally, it is dynamic. Meaning, it is always changing (Jarvis, 2008).
The second aspect of one’s heritage is ethnicity. This is a group within the
References: Alexopoulos Y. (2007). Illness, Culture, and Caring: Impact on Patients, Families, and Nurses. In Chitty, K.K. & Black, B.P. (Ed.), Professional nursing concepts & challenges (5th ed., pp. 237-269). St. Louis, Missouri: Saunders. Baxter, A. (2001). In search of your German roots, A complete guide to tracing your ancestors in the Germanic areas of Europe (4th ed.). A. Baxter (Ed.), Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing. Carter R. (2008). Cultural competence: Cultural care. In Jarvis, C. (Ed.), Physical examination & health assessment (5th ed., pp. 35-53). St. Louis, Missouri: Saunders. Downing J. (2008). Understanding each other: Communication and culture. In Riley, J.B. (Ed.), Communication in nursing (6th ed., pp. 46-62). St. Louis, Missouri: Mosby. Santos S. (2004). In Fuller, B. & Vossmeyer G. (Ed.) Cultures of the world, Germany (2nd ed.). Tarrytown, New York: Marshall Cavendish.