Cultural Diversity and its Influence on Nursing Practice
The nursing profession has a long history of assessing and placing the needs of patients first when giving care. The tenets of nursing practice include providing individualized care by collaborating with the patient, family, and health care team members when planning nursing care (American Nurses Association, 2010). The concept of transcultural nursing aligns with these tenets because it calls on nurses to use them to provide care to people with differing backgrounds, beliefs, and cultures. In this paper, I will identify the factors that made it necessary to develop the transcultural nursing theory, describe the meaning of diversity and its relationship to the field of nursing, and
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Every nursing duty hinges on this one, simple aspect. To effectively meet a patient’s needs, it becomes essential that the nurse understand in part, who the patient is. Diversity encompasses many elements that integrate to make each patient unique. Patient-centered nursing takes into account patient background, and past experiences as well as desires, beliefs, motivations, personality, culture, religion, and family life. The better the nurse knows and understands the patient, the better prepared she/he will be when developing a plan of care, and the better the patient will respond to nursing interventions. Transcultural echoes the concepts of patient-centered care because each views the patient as an individual. Transcultural nursing expands patient-centered nursing and nurses are realizing the importance using cultural competence skills when developing a treatment plan that is culturally relevant and acceptable to both the nurse and …show more content…
Her theories go hand in hand with the basic concepts of patient-centered care. It’s essential for nurses to have a working understanding of their patients’ belief systems, desires, values, religion, personality, and abilities. Learning about the culture of common patient populations an area assists the nurse in becoming culturally competent. In my own practice, I have found that gathering information, slowing down during communication, focusing on the patient, asking thoughtful questions, and clarifying information assists me when meeting the needs of patients from different cultures. Providing care that is culturally competent ensures that interventions are tailored specifically to the patient and the result is an increase in positive