Culture Health and Nursing
It cannot be denied that one of the world’s major problems is to ensure the health of millions of people. Although there are many professionals who are certain about their works and whom can be considered as an exemplary member of the healthcare professionals, there are still issues that can be attached on them professionally. The individual healthcare professional’s ability to do what is proposed with proper competence, ability and skill is, of course, very crucial in ensuring safe clinical care. But professional competence is only part of the picture since nobody is perfect. Good people with good skills and good intentions, sometimes commit mistakes. As part of this professional issue, to be a nurse is to observe a dynamic based of caring based on a theoretical body of knowledge.
Culture is an important factor in understanding organization even in healthcare industry, because for any organization to operate effectively it must for some extent have a general set of beliefs and assumptions. Because understanding the term of the culture metaphor helps organizations to be aware of how members are thinking about the organization phenomena, and to recognize how different attitudes, value and beliefs affect the workplace. Understanding and assessing the national culture and organization’s culture can mean the difference between success and failure in today’s fast changing organizational environment. Cultural assessment can provide measurable data about the real organizational values and norms that can be used to get management’s attention.
According to Barbeschi (2002), the process of making an organization is simultaneously the growth and maintenance of relationships among individuals who are working towards a common goal and the actual accomplishment of tasks, individually and collectively. In any organization, there exists a cultural/political dimension (Barbeschi, 2002). It includes rituals and myths, symbols and games. Due to the common behavior, an internal integration within the organization is developed. In a sense, all cultural learning reflects the original values of individuals and their sense of what ought to be as distinct from what is.
Transcultural experiences were always part of nursing practices. As a nurse, there are practices, emotions and values to be set and considered in a health care incident. In the cases of trans-cultural health care for nurses, the theory of Leininger play significant role. Basically, the rationale of transforming the functions of the nurses in a more culturally diversified environment is based in their need to understand the culture, and even the anthropological view of the culture. The phenomena in accepting the changes are extracted in the principles of delivering the quality health care services and as a positive approach in fulfilling their “call of duty”. Basically, the world and situations are changing and they are changing rapidly, and nurses are attempting to discover a new way to answer the immediate of the cultural diversified patients (Leininger, 2002).
Based on the theory of Leininger, cultures appeared to be more visible in the eye of nursing practice and thus, the trans-cultural nursing in this century is accepted without further doubts but rather full of enthusiasm (Leininger, 2003). The theory is broad but ensures that it is culture-specific and focuses in discovering the meaningful way to care for the people in diverse cultures. The practice of trans-cultural nursing addresses the cultural dynamics that can influence the patient-nurse relationship. This is for the reason that the theory bounds to explain the outcomes based on the nursing aspects and the type of care that will be implemented (Leininger, 2003). Together the nurse and the client creatively design a new or different care lifestyle for the health or well-being of the client. However, this mode requires the use of both generic and professional knowledge and ways to fit such diverse ideas into nursing care actions and goals. Care knowledge and skill are identified to not enough to achieve the desired health outcomes and because of the interaction between the nurses and their patients; they can work together without delay in the progress of the patients. It is important that a patient understand the health care plan and implementation to create a sound decision. After all, all of the efforts of the collaboration and knowledge and skills of the nurses are addressing the health care needs of the patients. With the help of open communication, the patient can minimize or eliminate the resistance in the health care plan. On the other hand, nurses who understand and value the practice of culturally competent care are able to effect positive changes in healthcare practices for clients of designated cultures (Leininger, 2003). In addition, this theory avoids the traditional issue of stereotyping which is again, a hindrance in the nursing care and deliverance of quality.
References:
Barbeschi, M. (2002) Organisational culture of the OPCW Secretariat Disarmament Forum, Vol. 4, United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, Geneva, pp46-53.
Leininger, M., (2002) Culture Care Theory: A Major Contribution to Advance Transcultural Nursing Knowledge and Practices, Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 113(3):189-192 [Online] Available at: http://tcn.sagepub.com/content/13/3/189.full.pdf [Accessed 15 September 2010]
Leininger, M., (2003) Madeleine Leininger’s Culture Care: Diversity and Universality Theory, Understanding the Work of Nurse Theorists [Online] Available at: http://nursing.jbpub.com/sitzman/CH15PDF.pdf [Accessed 15 September 2010]
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