The Purnell Model Of Cultural Competence In Health Care

The Purnell model has brought awareness to the healthcare field on the importance of being culturally competent. Cultural competence is the adaptation of care in a manner that is consistent with the culture of the client and is therefore a conscious process and nonlinear (Purnell 193). Being culturally competent not only helps the patients of different backgrounds, but the whole healthcare facility as a whole. The model helps to provide general and culturally specific knowledge that can aid in better service to patients. This model also creates fewer errors from staff from being uninformed of the culture and making uneducated assumptions about the patient. A culturally competent health care provider develops an awareness of his or her existence,

In that religion, it is seen as a sin and taboo to use birth control. However, she uses it because her family is more modern when it comes to those rules. Though they believe it is a sin, they would rather be safe and protected against unwanted pregnancy. Regarding the overall view of pregnancy, it is congratulated mainly if the woman is married and not a teenager. It is seen as an embarrassment, and having children out of wedlock is looked down upon. A normal cultural custom and practice for her culture during childbirth is to have childbirth at home with a midwife. It is not common in Mexico to have a child in a hospital. Women also opt out of an epidural because it is seen as a drastic harm to mother and baby instead of a help. Their practices regarding postpartum period involve the mother not walking, doing no heavy lifting, and doing no physical activities for 40 days. The mother gets fed soup and healthy food, and she breastfeeds her baby. Corrales, A. (2017, November 26). Personal interview. While doing that for 40 days, the mother also wears a tight girdle around her abdomen to decrease her size

I Identify as Black/African American. One difference that I noticed is how having children out of wedlock is looked down upon and not common in Hispanic culture, but in my culture, it is the norm. In my culture, it is actually rare for someone to be married before they have their first child. Another difference is how they have a holiday dedicated to the dead. Once we have the funeral, we move on because the stigma of death and funerals is dark and depressing. I commented to Amy that I wish my culture would adopt her culture’s way of dealing with death since it involves more positive emotions. Another huge difference is how women in Hispanic/Latino culture participate in postpartum care. After a baby is born in American culture the mom is usually left to tend to herself and her baby with minimal to no help. Of course, there are exceptions to this policy which depends on the mother having a great partner or strong family support system. The postpartum period is normally filled with caring for a new baby and catching up on missed work. There is no rest and rejuvenate period in American culture. This practice is another custom I wish my culture would adopt. This could actually be the key to ending postpartum