Cultural Diversity And Health Practices: European American Culture
Cultural Diversity
Jennifer White
ITT Technical Institute
NU100
2/10/2013
Every day, many professional nurses make a positive change in the lives of many individuals by providing high quality health care. However, now, in the 21st century, professional nurses are providing health care within an ever changing multicultural and global society. Different cultures have different health beliefs and health practices. This piece will look into the European American Culture with an emphasis on German Americans. The individual interviewed C.I. did not want to be classified as European American. C.I. will be referred to as German American.
1. Communication - German Americans are often misunderstood due to the level of directness in their speech. German Americans tend to value truth and to some degree efficiency over politeness and formality in speech. Directness is considered a sign of respect. German Americans are often accused of arrogance. Unlike Americans, they see humility as an evasion of fact and therefore will talk about themselves without the requirement of humility that Americans tend to value. Thus, when talking about one’s self, Germans seem arrogant to Americans and Americans come across as disrespectful and dismissive. …show more content…
The usual distance for social conversation is 2-3 feet--about arm’s length. Standing closer than this will usually be perceived as intimacy or invasiveness, but does depend on the relationship of those involved. The German American convention for eye contact is for the speaker to make intermittent brief contact with the listener, and for the listener to gaze fairly steadily at the speaker. Children are specifically taught to look at the speaker and will be reprimanded if they do not. Direct eye contact is believed to be a sign of honesty and
Jennifer White
ITT Technical Institute
NU100
2/10/2013
Every day, many professional nurses make a positive change in the lives of many individuals by providing high quality health care. However, now, in the 21st century, professional nurses are providing health care within an ever changing multicultural and global society. Different cultures have different health beliefs and health practices. This piece will look into the European American Culture with an emphasis on German Americans. The individual interviewed C.I. did not want to be classified as European American. C.I. will be referred to as German American.
1. Communication - German Americans are often misunderstood due to the level of directness in their speech. German Americans tend to value truth and to some degree efficiency over politeness and formality in speech. Directness is considered a sign of respect. German Americans are often accused of arrogance. Unlike Americans, they see humility as an evasion of fact and therefore will talk about themselves without the requirement of humility that Americans tend to value. Thus, when talking about one’s self, Germans seem arrogant to Americans and Americans come across as disrespectful and dismissive. …show more content…
The usual distance for social conversation is 2-3 feet--about arm’s length. Standing closer than this will usually be perceived as intimacy or invasiveness, but does depend on the relationship of those involved. The German American convention for eye contact is for the speaker to make intermittent brief contact with the listener, and for the listener to gaze fairly steadily at the speaker. Children are specifically taught to look at the speaker and will be reprimanded if they do not. Direct eye contact is believed to be a sign of honesty and