Chapter 4: cultural influences on nursing care

Question 1

culture

Answer 1

• the socially transmitted behavior patterns, beliefs, values, customs, arts, and all other characteristics of people that guide their view of the world

Question 2

cultural sensitivity

Answer 2

using culturally appropriate language and not offending another person’s cultural beliefs

Question 3

cultural awareness

Answer 3

an appreciation for and attention to a culture’s celebrations, foods, and traditional arts and clothing

Question 4

cultural competence

Answer 4

the skills and knowledge required to prove effective nursing care

Question 5

ethnocentrism

Answer 5

thinking that one’s culture’s ways of thinking, acting, and believing are the only right and natural ways

Question 6

stereotype

Answer 6

an opinion or belief about a group of people that is ascribed to an individual

Question 7

acculturation

Answer 7

when immigrants to a new country learn to accept their own beliefs as well as those of their new country

Question 8

cultural assimilation

Answer 8

when immigrants to a new country take on teh dominant’s culture’s values, beliefs, and practices

Question 9

cultural conflict

Answer 9

when one’s own culture conflicts with his/her new culture

Question 10

cultural shock

Answer 10

when vales, beliefs, and practices sanctioned by a new culture are very different from a person’s native culture

Question 11

spirituality

Answer 11

• gives meaning and purpose to existence
• religion and spirituality may overlap

Question 12

addressing spirituality

Answer 12

• improve pts’ comfort levels emotionally and physically
• has a positive effect on pts’ response to illness and treatments

Question 13

characteristics of cultural diversity

Answer 13

• primary characteristics: nationality, race, skin color, gender, age, spirituality, and religious affiliation
• secondary characteristics: socioeconomic status, education, occupation, miitary experience, political beliefs, marital status, parental status, physical characteristics, sexual orientation, and gender roles

Question 14

cultural phenomena across all cultural groups

Answer 14

• communication styles
• space
• time orientation
• social organization
• environmental control/health beliefs
• choice of HCP’s
• biological variations
• death and dying issues

Question 15

communication styles

Answer 15

• verbal: spoken language, dialects, and voice volume
• nonverbal: use and degree of eye contact, the perception of time, and physical closeness
• nursing assessment and strategies: speak slowly and clearly, provide written instructions in pts preferred language, use professional interpreters

Question 16

space

Answer 16

• personal space differs between close friends vs strangers and across cultures
• nursing assessment and strategies: maintain appropriate physical distance (observe for cues), make sure pts physical environment is arranged to ensure safety, security, and familiarity

Question 17

time orientation

Answer 17

• clock time vs social time
• orientation: past, present, future
• nursing assessment and strategies: have a clock in pt room, assess for orientation; reorient to time as needed, give time options when appropriate

Question 18

social organization

Answer 18

• patriarchal, matriarchal, or egalitarian
• gender roles and elder roles vary across families and cultures
• extended family may be important
• nursing assessment and strategies: ask who lives in pts household, observe use of touch between family members, let family members decide where they want to stand or sit for comfort

Question 19

environmental control: 3 concepts

Answer 19

• perception of ability to control what happens to one’s health
• beliefs about health and illness
• beliefs in alternative health care therapies

nursing assessment and strategies: never stereotype, perform a cultural assessment of all pts, ask about religious beliefs and practices

Question 20

choice of health care providers

Answer 20

• physicians vs traditional healers
• religious influences
• gender issues
• nursing assessment and strategies: ask what HCPs pts see when ill, ask if pts object to male or female HCPs, observe for alternative care providers who may visit the pt

Question 21

biological variations

Answer 21

• body structure
• skin color
• vital signs
• lab values
• disease susceptibility
• nutrition variations
• nursing assessment and strategies: teach about biological variations that may pertain to pt

Question 22

death and dying issues

Answer 22

• burial practices
• autopsy beliefs
• expression of grief
• nursing assessment and strategies: support family in their expression of grief, observe for differences in the expression of grief among family members, offer to obtain a religious counselor/spiritual leader if the family wishes

Question 23

ethnic and cultural groups

Answer 23

• European American (white)
• Spanish/Hispanic/Latino
• African American (Black)
• American Indian/Alaskan Native
• Aarab American
• Asian American
• Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander

Question 24

culturally competent care

Answer 24

• be aware of your own heritage
• appreciate that pts are unique, influenced by culture
• learn about cultural groups
• incorporate pts cultural values, beliefs, and practices into care