Transcultural Nursing

Transcultural Nursing

Michael Mitchell

Walden University

Nurs 3000-6

May 7, 2012

Transcultural Nursing

In this short easy, I will explore the diversity in the nursing profession as it relates to the nurses' ability to provide patient care and foster a better working environment. To understand diversity, we must define who we are as individuals and respect that each person is unique.

We are Different

Working at a major hospital in New York City, a nurse must be open minded and cultural sensitive to diversity of the patient population. To be an effect nurse, he or she must be cultural knowledgeable to assist in the plan of care for their patients. My personnel experiences with multiply cultures have complimented my ability in providing patient care. Cultural competence is a continual process of striving to become increasing self-aware, to value diversity of people; culturally competent nurses are sensitive to issues related to culture, race, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation (Madeline M. Maier-Lorentz, 2008).

Having worked as a travel nurse, I have been able to learn many transcultural traditions. This knowledge is a vital link in understanding the needs of my patients. Nurses must be attentive in their assessment skills to identify the patient's culture needs along with their medical needs.

Verbal and nonverbal communication among the diverse culture varies and may be misunderstood as rude, disrespected or not interested. Communication is vital in providing patient care and it is the responsibility of the nurse to break any barriers that will hinder with communication. As our population becomes more diverse, nurses must incorporate the concept of transcultural nursing into their plan of care. Transcultural nursing is a new a new dimension of nursing focus on how everybody is different and is unique. A therapeutic touch may be considered as invasive is some Middle Eastern customs, and touching the head of an Asian person is an insult. As the nurse performs their assessment, some nonverbal clues may actual be a sign of respect as in staring to the floor when being spoken to. Our actions are just "Our own" and we as nurses must be self-aware of our patients' diversity.

There are many ways the nurse can become more cultural competent. To understand another person's cultural believes, the nurse must do a self-assessment of his/her own personal believes and identify any characteristic that may impair their ability to be cultural sensitive. A nurse from a small rural town in Virginia may not be cultural aware of the needs of an Orthodox Jewish patient as compared to a nurse from New York City. The Virginia nurse may have never been exposed to an Orthodox Jewish patient and not understand why you cannot serve a diary product with a meat dish.