Summary: The Biomedical Model Of Health Care

Cultural competency becomes increasingly important in delivering a holistic, culturally sensitive care, and ensuring patient satisfaction and positive outcomes. With the escalating diversification of the population of the United States, the biomedical model of health care in which the western medicine roots its practices often fails to recognize the cultural differences. Healthcare, according to Putsch and Marley (1990), is a very complex issue which can be further complicated by cultural and language barriers. The strict use of scientific method in diagnosis and treatment has created an enormous gap between practitioners and the public they serve. The reality of the multiracial, multicultural population of the United States requires from health

It is important for nurses to identify and meet the varied needs, to provide individualized care. Today, teaching all health care providers, the differences in the cultural and religious views, as well as the associated with it health care practices, is more important than ever before. According to the United States Census Bureau (2016), over 30% of the total population in the USA is comprised of various ethnicities, other than non-Hispanic Whites. That number is expected to grow by the year 2050 to 50% of the whole population. Despite this fact, approximately 90% of all Registered Nurses are Caucasian (Census.gov.

There are many examples of nursing care, where not knowing about the patient cultural history lead to miscommunication and ultimately worsening of the condition of the patient. One of such examples of lack of acknowledging cultural differences and described by the American Colledge of Obstetrics-Gynecologist( 2011), is a scenario where a lesbian woman sees a gynecologist for the first time. She responds "yes" to the gynecologist inquiry about whether she is sexually active, and so the provider begins to lecture her on the use of birth control, which leaves the patient uncomfortable and upset. As a result, she refuses to return to the office again. In culturally sensitive approach, the doctor should not assume his patient heterosexuality, but question her about the gender of her sexual partner. Another example describes an elderly Chinese woman who is asked by her nurse to go to the laboratory to have her blood drawn. She takes the requisition form and never returns to the office. The nurse failed to see the woman 's hesitation and ask why she was worried. Had she done that, she would have learned that the woman believed that the blood taken from her body would never be replenished, which would make her feel weaker than she already is. The culturally sensitive approach would involve asking the woman about her fears, and after learning about them, explaining how blood is replaced in her human body, as well as the importance of the ordered tests. Bussy- Jones and Genao(