Heritage Assessment and Healthcare
Running head: HERITAGE AND HEALTHCARE
Heritage Assessment and Healthcare
H. Rachelle Thompson
Grand Canyon University:
NRS-429V Family-Centered Health Promotion
August 19, 2012
Heritage Assessment and Healthcare America is a melting pot of different cultures, and with the cultural diversity there comes differences in healthcare traditions and decisions (Racher & Annis, 2007). Whether it’s a religious approach to healthcare or a cultural tradition, everyone has a different approach to his or her health. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the author’s heritage and healthcare traditions, differences in other cultures and their healthcare traditions and the effect that their heritage can have on healthcare, and the importance of assessing the patient’s heritage prior to providing healthcare.
Use in Practice
Providing culturally competent care means being understanding of the differences in cultures, respecting those differences, and operating within their beliefs as much as possible (El-Amouri, & O’Neill, 2011). It can be a challenge to care for someone whose ideas of healthcare differ from that of the nurses if the patient’s culture is not understood or the nurse is unaware of the culture, in fact if there are miscommunications in language or understandings it can be detrimental (Amouri & O’Neill, 2011). In order to provide culturally competent care one needs to know the culture or heritage of the patient and their beliefs regarding healthcare; these can both be assessed often upon the first meeting of provider and client. A heritage assessment would be one way that a nurse might be able to further understand what the patients background is and exactly how tied they are to their cultural background. Understanding what a patients heritage is and what personal beliefs they have regarding what healthcare means to them allows the provider to modify the patient care plan so that it has the highest chance of success (Racher &
Heritage Assessment and Healthcare
H. Rachelle Thompson
Grand Canyon University:
NRS-429V Family-Centered Health Promotion
August 19, 2012
Heritage Assessment and Healthcare America is a melting pot of different cultures, and with the cultural diversity there comes differences in healthcare traditions and decisions (Racher & Annis, 2007). Whether it’s a religious approach to healthcare or a cultural tradition, everyone has a different approach to his or her health. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the author’s heritage and healthcare traditions, differences in other cultures and their healthcare traditions and the effect that their heritage can have on healthcare, and the importance of assessing the patient’s heritage prior to providing healthcare.
Use in Practice
Providing culturally competent care means being understanding of the differences in cultures, respecting those differences, and operating within their beliefs as much as possible (El-Amouri, & O’Neill, 2011). It can be a challenge to care for someone whose ideas of healthcare differ from that of the nurses if the patient’s culture is not understood or the nurse is unaware of the culture, in fact if there are miscommunications in language or understandings it can be detrimental (Amouri & O’Neill, 2011). In order to provide culturally competent care one needs to know the culture or heritage of the patient and their beliefs regarding healthcare; these can both be assessed often upon the first meeting of provider and client. A heritage assessment would be one way that a nurse might be able to further understand what the patients background is and exactly how tied they are to their cultural background. Understanding what a patients heritage is and what personal beliefs they have regarding what healthcare means to them allows the provider to modify the patient care plan so that it has the highest chance of success (Racher &
References: El-Amouri, S., & O’Neill, S. (2011). Supporting cross-cultural communication and culturally competent care in the linguistically and culturally diverse hospital settings of UAE. Contemporary Nurse: A Journal For The Australian Nursing Profession, 39(2), 240-255. Gupta, V. (2010). Impact of culture on healthcare seeking behavior of Asian Indians. Journal Of Cultural Diversity, 17(1), 13-19. Ormond, B., Spillman, B., Waidmann, T., Caswell, K., & Tereshchenko, B. (2011). Potential national and state medical care savings from primary disease prevention. American Journal Of Public Health, 101(1), 157-164. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2009.182287 Racher, F., & Annis, R. (2007). Respecting culture and honoring diversity in community practice. Research & Theory For Nursing Practice, 21(4), 255-270 Shaw, H., & Degazon, C. (2008). Integrating the core professional values of nursing: a profession, not just a career. Journal Of Cultural Diversity, 15(1), 44-50.