Discussion Response-Culturally-Derived Communication Misunderstanding
Thank you for sharing your experience. I must admit that referring to persons as Sir or Madam sounds to me as being very respectful. But I guess people perceive one’s intentions differently, especially when the other party is unaware of the existence of different cultures. For example, the recent upsurge of deaths in Italy last year was condemned by many, including healthcare practitioners, on the culture of the Italians. Italians kiss each other on the cheeks when saluting each other, and while this was a major contributor to the spread of the COVID-19 virus, it was proving an uphill task for healthcare providers to convince people to stop their age-old culture.
I agree with you that ‘by simply asking the patient what is important to him or how can I address his concern will deliver an excellent way of communication.’ Kleinman (1980) emphasized the significance of obtaining the explanations of the patient regarding their illness. Explanatory Models (EM) are ideas about the disease and its treatment plan. The EMs ask five main questions in explaining the perception of the illness by the patient, specifically the etiology, onset of symptoms mode and time, pathophysiology, illness course including the type and severity of the sick role, and treatment for the illness.
At the core of cultural competence and patient-centeredness is the significance of viewing the patient as unique. Cultural competence is seen as an extension of care that is patient-centered. More specifically, cultural competence may be viewed as a skill necessary for nurses to attain in rendering effective patient-centered care. However, the key question that remains, according to the ANA (n.d), is “How does the nurse deliver patient-centered care when the patient’s health beliefs, practices, and values are in direct conflict with medical and nursing guidelines?”
References
ANA (n.d). Delivering Patient-Cantered Care in the Midst of a Cultural Conflict: The Role of Cultural Competence. http://ojin.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/TableofContents/Vol-16-2011/No2-May-2011/Delivering-Patient-Centered-Care-in-the-Midst-of-a-Cultural-Conflict.html
Kleinman, A. (1980). Patients and healers in the context of culture. CA: University of California Press.
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Question 
Discussion Response-Culturally-Derived Communication Misunderstanding
- – A minimum of 200 words per post, not including references
- Citations: At least one high-level scholarly reference in APA per post from within the last 5 years
Culturally-Derived Communication Misunderstanding
During the first few weeks of my nursing career in the United States, I often refer to my patients as “Sir” or Ma’am”. I frequently get a response, “Don’t call me Sir or Don’t call me Ma’am”. Some answer me in a polite manner while others, unfortunately, express their frustration. I grew up in a foreign country and based on our culture, acknowledging our elders or someone to who we provide services regardless of age, with these forms of address, is a sign of conveying our respect to them. As I had become more familiar with the culture in my new country of residence, I observed that the majority of my patients feel comfortable when I speak with them by their first names. Although this situation is simple in terms of culturally–derived miscommunication, I believe that some modifications to my patient interaction will still create a huge difference in patient care.
Cultural beliefs especially in healthcare are perceived differently in different parts of the world. It is essential for a clinician to improve knowledge and skills on these cultures to develop cultural competence, resulting to better serving society. Some strategies that I can perform as an advanced practice nurse is recognizing everyone’s cultural traditions and respecting their own norms, beliefs, and experiences in life. In addition, I will prevent on generalizing someone’s practices based on my own cultural system (Brown et al., 2016). By simply asking the patient what is important to him or how can I address his concern, will deliver an excellent way of communication.
The principles of the community, the influences of the world and the person’s understanding of themselves, all contribute to the process of communication and the behavioral pattern of an individual. If a different event is presented or when they encounter a unique set of values, it could possibly result into misunderstanding or feelings of disrespect towards their tradition. Consequently, communication failure will occur (Maliki et al., 2019).
References
Discussion Response-Culturally-Derived Communication Misunderstanding
Brown, E. A., Bekker, H. L., Davison, S. N., Koffman, J., & Schell, J. O. (2016). Supportive care: communication strategies to improve cultural competence in shared decision making. Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology: CJASN, 11(10), 1902–1908. https://doi.org/10.2215/CJN.
Maliki, S., Housni, H., & Biad, T. (2019). The impact of cultural value systems on cross–cultural communication success or failure. International journal of innovation and research in educational sciences, 6(3), 2349-5219. https://ijires.org/