Cultural Considerations

Cultural Considerations

The principles of cross-cultural communication are: overcoming personal biases, relating culture to communication, sympathizing with people for who English is not their first language, recognizing your own privileges, and developing cross-cultural competence. One’s feelings can be hurt because of racism, stereotypes, and communication can be affected negatively. Prejudice has hostile approaches toward a specific group or groups shaped in disregard of facts. It is an unconfirmed decision associated with disapproval (Cheesebro et al., 2010).

Language and culture are closely related; without becoming skilled within the culture of the people, it is hard to know the language. It is challenging for most people to learn and speak a second language, and a skilled intercultural communicator feels sympathy for the person who has to learn a second language. Intelligence does not play a big role in one’s ability to speak English (Cheesebro et al., 2010).

Being a member of a certain social group is a privilege, and sometimes this privilege is taken for granted. By being Caucasian, you can easily fit in anywhere. You are not asked to explain why you act, feel, or believe a certain way. Buying band-aids is easy because they are the color of your flesh. When you are Caucasian, and one offers you a job position, you do not question if your race had something to do with the offer. (Cultural Diversity: A Guide for Health Professionals. www.health.qld.gov.au/hssb/cultdiv/cultdiv/home.htm)

Developing cross-cultural competence includes realizing your own prejudices and biases and working lifelong to overcome them. The expertise to work in the way of equal status relationships with people who are different from you. Cross-cultural competencies also include the skill to learn how people like to be treated and find ways to help them as much as possible (Cheesebro et al., 2010).

Communication is a complicated process that compromises more than just a linguistic factor. It involves the understanding of speech, tone, facial expressions, body language, gesticulation, and hypothesis shared between the communicants about the situation and purpose of the exchange. When a patient and a healthcare professional are from different cultural backgrounds, communicating effectively is a huge challenge. Different strategies are used to overcome communication barriers, including the use of relatives who can translate for the patient, non-verbal communication, and gestures (Jirwe et al.i, 2010).

References

Cheesebro, T., O’Connor, L., & Rios, F. (2010). Communicating in the workplace. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall

Jirwe, M., Gerrish, K., & Emami, A. (2010). Student nurses’ experiences of communication in cross-cultural care encounters. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 24(3), 436-444. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6712.2009.00733.x

Cultural Diversity: A Guide for Health Professionals. Retrieved from www.health.qld.gov.au/ hssb/cultdiv/cultdiv/home.htm

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Submit an evidence-based practice assignment about cultural competency in mental health nursing. An evidence-based practice assignment allows you to explore best practices and help improve client outcomes on a psychiatric unit. Your assignment should describe how you, as a nurse, will include – or have included – cultural awareness in a client diagnosed with a mental illness. The person you describe could be someone in your clinical setting, someone you have worked with in the past, or a theoretical client.

Remember that culture can also include gender equality, sexual orientation, and other cultures besides race and religion – including cultures unique to one particular family. This assignment should be at least 3 pages (double-spaced, not including the title or reference pages) in APA Format and include:

Assessment: Discuss what you would assess in regard to a client’s culture. For example, are there specific dietary requirements? Are schedule changes necessary to avoid conflicts with religious practices? Who is the spokesperson for the family? What would you assess?

Diagnosis: List any mental health nursing diagnoses this person has or may be at risk for. Include at least one cultural diagnosis.

Planning: What planning needs to be done to ensure the cultural and emotional safety of the client?

Implementation: What are interventions that would ensure the safety of your client in regard to culture? Include at least two interventions. For example, if your client has religious beliefs that affect the ability to take medications, what interventions would you create to ensure the client’s safety? What can you do to make sure the client’s cultural needs are met?

Evaluation: How will you evaluate whether your implementation was effective? Make sure the parameters are objective and measurable.

In your summary, discuss whether any completed interventions were successful. What could be done differently in the future? If the interventions have not yet been carried out, you might discuss some institutional changes that could be made to ensure cultural safety for all clients in that setting.

Your assignment should utilize proper APA guidelines and include at least three scholarly sources to support your work. A scholarly source is a source that has been peer reviewed and has appropriate authors that are credentialed.