The Spirit Catches You Essay
I have lived in the same small town of Bonner Springs, Kansas my entire life. My parents and I have always been close and I guess one could say we are a “normal” American family. My heritage derives from German, Native American, and a Bohemian background. I honestly do not know much about my ancestry except for the few things my parents and grandparents have shared with me. How I see it, I am a mix of hundreds of amazing individuals from different races, cultures and backgrounds. Residing on a farm taught me a lot about hard work, medicine, and caring for others. I always knew I wanted to be a nurse even as a small child. At a young age my grandmother entered a nursing home, so I essentially grew up watching others care for her and from then
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Before reading The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down I knew nothing about the Hmong culture, so reading the book was eye opening. “The more we know about culture in general, and our own culture in particular, the better able we are to modify our interactions with others to provide effective care” (Clark, 2015, p. 104). After reading the Fadiman text I have a new outlook on culturally competent care. Providing this type of care if much more than calling an interpreter because it is the “easy thing to do.” We must think about the patient as a whole regarding mind, body, and spirit. As a future nurse, I must remind myself that each patient is different. We all come from unique places, upbringings, and thought processes. From the assigned texts I have gained an appreciation and respect for others way of thinking. Nurses sometimes learn to desensitize themselves from situations, but we need to be seeing things through our patients’ eyes. We must show patients the respect and care that each and every one truly deserves, especially patients who are culturally diverse. The health care system can be a scary place. Seeing health care situations through our patient’s eyes could not only make health care professionals more empathetic, but also more understanding. Just because someone sees medicine different then our Western practices does not mean they are foolish or unintelligent. It means
Before reading The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down I knew nothing about the Hmong culture, so reading the book was eye opening. “The more we know about culture in general, and our own culture in particular, the better able we are to modify our interactions with others to provide effective care” (Clark, 2015, p. 104). After reading the Fadiman text I have a new outlook on culturally competent care. Providing this type of care if much more than calling an interpreter because it is the “easy thing to do.” We must think about the patient as a whole regarding mind, body, and spirit. As a future nurse, I must remind myself that each patient is different. We all come from unique places, upbringings, and thought processes. From the assigned texts I have gained an appreciation and respect for others way of thinking. Nurses sometimes learn to desensitize themselves from situations, but we need to be seeing things through our patients’ eyes. We must show patients the respect and care that each and every one truly deserves, especially patients who are culturally diverse. The health care system can be a scary place. Seeing health care situations through our patient’s eyes could not only make health care professionals more empathetic, but also more understanding. Just because someone sees medicine different then our Western practices does not mean they are foolish or unintelligent. It means