Cultural Sensitivity In Health Care Essay

Professional communication requires skillful consideration of words, actions, and sensitivity to diverse cultures to achieve the best outcomes for health care teams and patients. This may also include evaluating beliefs and practices related to health promotion and illness prevention, educational level, family structure, roles and support and communication preferences (Denisco & Barker, 2016). Cultural competence is the key to thriving in the culturally diverse world. It has increased consideration as an impending strategy to expand the quality and eradicate cultural and/or ethnicity discrepancies in healthcare (Denisco & Barker, 2010).

This scholar selected the Haitian cultural group not only because of the ethical background but also because in the United States, racial competency is a significant characteristic in the anticipation of care particularly given the fact that they make up the disadvantaged class of the modern American civilization (Cook, 2010). This essay will increase the awareness of the cultural diversity in the Haitian population and in what way nurses could provide a more culturally competent care.

This chosen group identifies themselves culturally/ethnically as Haitian or Haitian-American. According to the 2014 U. S. Census Bureau, 12,510 Haitian Americans live in the Village of Spring Valley situated in Rockland County NY where this writer resides. Conducting culturally competent editorial challenges from this article is reinforcing the focal point of this essay on Haitians cultural personal values and enlightens their version on proper, safer care.

And also educate and demonstrate to the APN’s on the need for cultural sensitivity/understanding, ommunication awareness, and competency in the provision of care toward their culture. re. Article Summary Nursing Article titled “CULTURAL AND CLINICAL CARE FOR HAITIANS”, written by Jessie M. Colin, Ph. D. , RN. This article thoroughly presents all the information to portray a cultural and clinical care for Haitians clients. It provides strategies interaction in a clinical setting to ensure success in providing nursing Proceeding, Mrs. Colin concentrations on the key ethnic dissimilarities that must be taken into thoughtfulness when conveying care.

This editorial illustrated items to accomplish to be culturally knowledgeable, such as: Spiritual/Religion Orientation: The majority of Haitians are Roman Catholics. Spiritual practices include Holy Unity, entreat the rosary with healing hopefulness. Similarly, familiarize to Voodoo, an African life-force religion (Webster, 2017). When illness presents itself, Haitians tends to have group prayers, at times ask nurses to pray with them. Mrs. Colin suggests the need to infiltrate spiritual aspects of nursing. Food Practice: Haitians consider that displaying the body to a disproportion of heated and cold factors instigate illness.

The principal meal is Lunch, consists of rice, beans, and plantain, spicy braised meat with fatty gravy or over salted stewed vegetables, and chicken with skin. If hospitalized, abstaining rather than eating nonHaitian food, due to fear of getting sicker. Healthcare providers should be aware eaten less than three meals does not consider as poor appetite, and they are prone to certain diseases such as Diabetes and Hypertension. Education & respect: Both parents and children view education as the key to upward mobility. Haitian parents are strict, overprotective and often traumatized at the observed impolite behavior.

Respect displays with limited eye contact, maintaining physical space, firm grasp handshake with males and a kiss on the cheeks for women to incorporate with social custom. Family Dynamic and Gender Oldest children are responsible for their elders and must reside with them instead of skilled nursing facilities. Husband head of household and make the final decision on every situation, wife only upkeeps with household chores. Homosexual is nonconversational, not openly parade sexual behavior. Male nurse for women not allowed or client prefers same-sex caregivers.

And, often uncomfortable taking on “women’s” gender roles, like taking care of children or house cleaning, dislike women in authority. Communication/Language Creole is the National language. Educated residents mostly speak French. Display high-pitched tone of voice; agree to disagree with authority figures. Non-verbal communication, adults make eye contact with each other but neither with children nor those in power. Hand gestures while talking are very common and may lead to misinterpretation. Touching freely at the person being spoken to just to let them know they are being spoken to.

Language barrier is a deficit. Death Rituals Beliefs, attitudes about death may be supernatural connotation. When death is forthcoming, most to all family will be at bedside with the tremendous emotional outburst, cries hysterically. Family members attempt spiritual requirements by bringing sacred medals, depictions of saints for protection. Generally prefer to be cared for, and die, at home. A family member gives deceased a final bath. HEALTH LITERACY Health literacy is the ability to obtain, read, understand and use healthcare information to make appropriate health decisions (Webster, 2017).

Haitians contemplates wellbeing to be a reserved accountability; Doctor’s visits or hospitalization is not a priority. Any symptoms, herbal tea are the primary management. Haitians are one of high-risk cultural group to develop Diabetes not only because of their lack of education towards the disease, type of food intake, but also their cultural beliefs. Article also addressed folk treatment (indigenous healers). Haitians assume that increased sugar instead of the body not creating sufficient insulin causes diabetes.

Predict illness as some form of punishment or an assault, a resentful ceremonial caused by demons and Holy Ghost (Colin, 2014). With regard to sources of trust, participants with lower health literacy placed greater trust in family and friends and religious organizations and leaders. Most likely, treatment will gear towards herbal medicines. Constructing culturally tailored and other appropriate interventions regarding health promotion the nurse should anticipate cultural awareness and encourage considering the use of an herbal constituent with the health care provider as preventive measures for drug interactions.

And possibility patient teaching with teach back to ensure accuracy of understanding of the diabetes mellitus. Furthermore, translators should be available around the clock. Application to Practice Webster defines culture as “the learned, shared, and transmitted values, beliefs, norms, and life way practices of a particular group that guide thinking, decisions, and actions in patterned ways” (Webster, 2017). Upon developing a plan of care for Haitian client, provider should identify practices and preferences characterized to this ethnic group mostly their religious and spiritual awareness, and their privacy.

Nurses should provide with devotional articles, sacred music. Music is a part of all cultures and religious tradition, especially to relieve stress (Colin, 2014). Language barrier, Hospitals recognized the need for professional interpreting services in order to overcome this barrier in communication. The use of professional interpreting services (physically or via telecom- telephone operators) have increased patient satisfaction, better patient outcomes, decreased adverse incidents which, in turn, limiting malpractice risks.

Overall, the populace operated will define the culturally sensitive means to use for teaching. Assessment of a client’s preferred learning approach is essential to facilitate the learning process. Conclusion Creating an ethnically personalized and suitable intervention regarding health promotion requires understanding on how the population accesses and conveys health information. Cultural competence has gained attention as a potential strategy to improve quality and eliminate racial/ethnic disparities in health care.

It is necessary for communicating effectively with patients. It was rewarded to read this article since this writer realizes that each culture is different and must be approached in a dissimilar manner in order to meet their needs. Then, to improve any insolences, one must virtuously managing each dilemma respectably by using evidenced-based practice approaches as a nurse, Finally, this writer’s nursing vision and philosophy gained further the understanding that congruent with the mission, values, and philosophy of cultural worldview on ethnic background.