Culture PrepU
From a critical cultural perspective, culture refers to which of the following? Values, beliefs, and practices of specific groups Genetically inherited behavioural traits A web of connections among ethnically-related persons A dynamic process enacted between people and their families
A critical perspective of culture is based on understanding it as a dynamic, shifting process in which we all engage. Rather than seeing values and beliefs as determining people's behaviours and circumstances, a critical perspective sees them as being part of systems of meaning upon which people draw. It is not dependent on genetic or ethnic similarities.
A new client is admitted to the unit, and the nurse's initial assessment will include a systematic appraisal of the client's cultural characteristics, health practices, and beliefs. What type of assessment will the nurse perform to gather this information? cultural biocultural multicultural procedural
A cultural nursing assessment is a systematic appraisal or examination of individuals, families, groups, and communities in terms of their cultural beliefs, values, and practices. The nurse should include cultural beliefs and health practices in any initial assessment. When assessing any client, the nurse must consider general appearance and obvious physical characteristics, components that make up biocultural assessment.
The nurse can best practice effective care by exhibiting which behavior during a cultural assessment? Set a focused time limit for collecting data. Stay focused on the computer screen to remain neutral. De-emphasize nonverbal communication cues. Acknowledge own prejudices that might create barriers to care.
Acknowledge that the nurse's own beliefs and prejudices might create barriers to providing culturally sensitive care. Leininger suggests that the attributes and behaviors of a nurse practicing effective care within the patient's cultural context include the following: - Genuine interest in a patient's culture and personal life experiences - Active listening and awareness of meanings behind the patient's verbal communication (storytelling) - Nonverbal communication (body language, eye contact, facial expressions, interpersonal space, and preferences regarding touch) - Acknowledgement that the nurse's own beliefs and prejudices might create barriers to providing culturally sensitive care.
A male nurse is caring for an elderly woman who has become withdrawn and somewhat confused since the nurse has come on duty. When the nurse goes into the room to bathe the patient, she refuses to allow it. The best explanation for her actions would be which of the following? confusion depression fear in strange surroundings cultural differences
Many cultures restrict touch of females by males. Even male physicians in some cultures are not allowed to treat females. The patient is not showing confusion, depression, or fear in her surroundings but instead is uncomfortable with a male wanting to care for her.
The nurse is assessing an older adult who immigrated at the age of 3 years. The client speaks the dominant language and lives in a neighborhood with many households from the country of origin. Which action by the nurse is most appropriate? Contact a shaman as part of culturally competent care of the client. Avoid direct eye contact with the client when speaking. Ask the client about special cultural beliefs or practices. Contact the client's oldest son to assist with healthcare decision making.
Asking the client his or her beliefs exemplifies that the nurse recognizes the importance of respecting differences rather than imposing standards. The nurse cannot assume the client's beliefs based on cultural appearance, so contacting a shaman, avoiding making eye contact, or asking the client's son is not appropriate. Once asked, if the client believes cultural support is significant to health and recovery, then the nurse should respect the client's beliefs or practices.
The nurse is caring for a married female client who defers to her husband to answer all assessment questions. The nurse understands that it is common in some cultures for the male to hold a dominant role in the relationship. What stage of cultural awareness does the nurse display? Unconscious competence Conscious incompetence Unconscious incompetence Conscious competence
Conscious competence is consciously learning about the patient's culture and providing culturally relevant interventions; aware of differences; able to have effective trans-cultural interactions.
The nurse is caring for a patient who is from another country, and states to the charge nurse, "I just don't know if the patient really understands what I am saying, and I am not understanding the patient either, even though he speaks English." What stage of cultural awareness is the nurse experiencing? Unconscious incompetence Conscious incompetence Conscious competence Unconscious competence
Conscious incompetence is the awareness that one lacks knowledge about another culture; aware that cultural differences exist but not knowing what they are or how to communicate effectively with patients from different cultures.
The inability to recognize the values, beliefs, and practices of others because of strong ethnocentric preferences is which of the following? Acculturation Cultural imposition Cultural blindness Cultural taboos
Cultural blindness is an inability to recognize the values, beliefs, and practices of others because of strong ethnocentric preferences. Cultural taboos are activities governed by rules of behavior that a particular cultural group avoids, forbids, or prohibits. Acculturation involves adapting to or taking on the behaviors of another group. Cultural imposition is an inclination to impose one's cultural beliefs, values, and patterns of behavior on people from a different culture.
The nurse observes that a coworker is unable to understand that an intelligent person would engage the services of a medicine man. The nurse's coworker has strong ethnocentric tendencies and an inability to recognize others' values, beliefs, and practices. The nurse understands that the coworker's behavior is an example of which attitude? Cultural blindness Cultural taboo Cultural imposition Acculturation
Cultural blindness results in bias and stereotyping. Cultural taboos are those activities governed by rules of behavior that are avoided, forbidden, or prohibited by a particular cultural group. Cultural imposition is the tendency to impose one's cultural beliefs, values, and patterns of behavior on a person from a different culture. Acculturation is the process by which members of a culture adapt or learn how to take on the behaviors of another group.
When the nurse tells the patient that she will return in 1 hour to administer an intravenous antibiotic, the nurse is showing that she values time in which of the following orientations? future past present none of the above
Cultural groups value time in the past, present, or future. Those who are future oriented place value on deferring pleasure for a later gain. They are the ones who will value the care and treatment in expectation of improvement. Those that focus on the past value practices unchanged from ancestors and are often resistant to new ways. Those focused on the present put what is going on now above what will occur in the future.
Which term describes the tendency to impose one's cultural beliefs, values, and patterns of behavior on a person from a different culture? Acculturation Cultural blindness Cultural imposition Cultural taboos
Cultural imposition is the tendency to impose one's cultural beliefs, values, and patterns of behavior on a person from a different culture. Cultural blindness occurs when one ignores differences and proceeds as though they do not exist. Acculturation is the process by which members of a cultural group adapt to, or learn how to, take on the behaviors of another group. Cultural taboos are activities or behaviors that are avoided, forbidden, or prohibited by a particular cultural group.
The emergency department nurse is caring for a client injured in a motor vehicle collision. The client recently immigrated to the country. The nurse should implement interventions aimed at addressing which issue? Culture shock Ethnocentrism Generalization Ageism
Culture shock is bewilderment over behavior that is culturally atypical for the client. The client who recently immigrated from another country would experience culture shock over being in a new culture, including a new culture of health care in the new country of residence. Ethnocentrism is the belief that one's culture is better than other cultures. Generalization is the belief that a person shares cultural characteristics with others from a similar background. Ageism is a negative belief that older adults are physically and cognitively impaired.
Sickle cell disease and other hemoglobinopathies such as thalassemia are often found in persons originating from which geographical regions? Central and South America. Northern and Central Europe. Mediterranean and Africa. Australia and New Zealand.
Drug metabolism differences, lactose intolerance, and malaria-related conditions—such as sickle cell disease, thalassemia, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency, and Duffy blood group—are considered biochemical variations. The malaria-related conditions would obviously occur in populations living in or originating from mosquito-infested locales such as the Mediterranean and Africa.
In preparing to assess a client from a different culture, a nurse is aware that one needs to assess both factors that affect the client's approach to providers and factors that affect the client's disease, illness, and health state. Which of the following is a factor the nurse should consider that primarily affects the client's approach to providers? Death rituals Body language Pain Pregnancy and childbearing
Elements of communication—including time, space, eye contact and face positioning, body language and hand gestures, silence, and touch—are all examples of factors that affect the client's approach to providers. Health care beliefs—such as causes of illness, culture-bound syndromes, culture-based treatments, death rituals, pregnancy and child-bearing, pain, and blood products and transfusions—are examples of factors that primarily affect the client's disease, illness, or health state.
When a home-bound client expresses the client's past-oriented ancestral heritage and family rituals, the nurse recognizes that the client is expressing: race. assimilation. subculture. ethnic identity.
Ethnicity or ethnic identity refers to a self-conscious, past-oriented form of identity based on a notion of shared cultural (and perhaps ancestral) heritage and current position in larger society. Race is based on biologic characteristics; assimilation refers to new customs and attitudes that are acquired through contact and communication among persons of a particular culture; subculture refers to a group of people within a culture who have ideas and beliefs that are different from the rest of that society.
What cultural group does the nurse understand may be late for a scheduled appointment at the clinic because of a wide frame of reference? Hispanic Arabian Native American Asian
However, for patients from some cultures, time is a relative phenomenon, with little attention paid to the exact hour or minute. For example, some Hispanic people consider time in a wider frame of reference and make the primary distinction between day and night.
A nurse provides care for a client who experiences anxiety, gastrointestinal complaints, and a fear of being poisoned or killed.The nurse recognizes this as which culture-bound syndrome? Susto Rootwork Mal de ojo Empacho
Rootwork is a culture-bound syndrome characterized by a belief that illnesses are supernatural in origin (e.g., witchcraft, voodoo, evil spirits, or evil person) and by symptoms of anxiety, gastrointestinal complaints, and a fear of being poisoned or killed. Susto, mal de ojo, and empacho are culture-bound syndromes found in some Latin American and Mediterranean cultures. Susto is the Spanish word for "fright" and is a syndrome believed to be caused by natural (cultural stressors) or supernatural (sorcery or witnessing supernatural phenomenon) means. Symptoms include nervousness, anorexia, insomnia, listlessness, fatigue, muscle tics, and diarrhea. Mal de ojo is "evil eye," a syndrome with symptoms that include sudden onset of fitful sleep, crying without apparent cause, diarrhea, vomiting, and fever. Empacho involves a belief that soft food adheres to the stomach wall and includes symptoms such as abdominal fullness, stomachache, diarrhea with pain, and vomiting.
A nursing student realizes that which of the following is an important variation of communication? silence beliefs spirituality death rituals
Silence is a very important variation of nonverbal communication. Beliefs, spirituality, and death rituals are considerations when doing cultural assessments but are not forms of communication.
The client states his pain is "intolerable" and requests pain medication. The nurse observes the client to be talking and laughing with visitors as they help to provide care to him. How should the nurse best respond? "I will be back with your pain medication." "If we can get some visitors our of your room, you might rest better." "I cannot imaging you are having pain the way you are laughing in here." "You do not look like you are in pain."
Some cultures encourage those that are sick to express pain freely and will be pampered by family. Pain is what the client states and he nurse needs to address the pain. The other statements demonstrate a judgmental attitude by the nurse.
The nurse correctly differentiates race from ethnicity by noting that race is based on which characteristics? Biological Social Spiritual Religious
The biological characteristics of race are based on either physical appearance or place of origin. Ethnicity is associated with social, spiritual, and religious characteristics.
Yin yang is an example which societal view of illness? Biomedical perspective Magico-religious perspective Naturalistic perspective Scientific perspective
The naturalistic view espouses that human beings are only one part of nature. The biomedical or scientific view embraces a cause-and-effect philosophy of human body functions. The magico-religious view believes that supernatural forces dominate.
The nurse working in a predominantly Amish community realizes that one reason the Amish do not obtain mammograms is because of transportation issues. The nurse obtains a grant to fund a dedicated van to provide transportation for members of the community to obtain mammograms. According to Leininger, this nurse is providing culturally congruent nursing care through which of the following? Culture care accommodation Culture care restructuring Cultural imposition Cultural blindness
The nurse is using culture care accommodation by overcoming the transportation issues to help the clients achieve a beneficial health outcome. Culture care restructuring refers to actions that help clients change their lifestyle toward more beneficial patterns. Cultural imposition is the imposition of one's culture on a person from a different culture. Cultural blindness is the inability of people to recognize their own values and beliefs and/or those of others.
The nurse is caring for a first-time mother and newborn in the postpartum unit. The nurse overhears the new mother ask family members to prepare the nursery and purchase clothing for the baby. What would the culturally sensitive nurse suspect? The new mother may believe buying infant clothing before the delivery is bad luck. The new mother is young, and the pregnancy was unexpected and the baby is unwanted. The new mother and requires education about how to prepare for the new baby. The mother is from a lower socioeconomic level and is not able to buy what is needed for the baby.
The nurse may suspect the new mother is from a culture that may believe buying infant clothing before the delivery is bad luck. There is no information to support that the mother is from a lower socioeconomic level or lacks knowledge of how to prepare for the new baby or that the baby is unwanted.
The nurse is caring for a client who expresses the belief that her illness (cellulitis) is a result of bacteria that has caused an infection. To which of the following views of disease/illness does this client allude? Naturalistic and/or holistic Magico-religious Biomedical and/or scientific Modernistic and/or physician oriented
The three major views that attempt to explain the cause of disease/illness are biomedical or scientific (cause and effect), naturalistic or holistic (forces of nature), and magico-religious (supernatural forces). The idea of bacteria causing an infection relates to the scientific or cause-and-effect theory.
A nursing instructor is teaching students about communication in different cultures. When discussing the meaning of hand gestures and body language in different cultures, the nurse realizes that further instruction is necessary when a student makes which statement? "There are many different elements of body language and hand gestures." "If any hand gesture is used, always clarify if there seems to be a strange reaction on the other's part." "I can make a circle with my thumb and forefinger and people of all cultures know it means OK." "A major hand gesture is one for indicating height."
There are many different elements of body language and hand gestures among different cultures. Using the hand to indicate height is a common gesture of Americans and Latins. Making a circle with the thumb and forefinger can mean OK for Americans but can be a definite and serious insult in many cultures. Therefore, if any hand gesture is used, the nurse should always clarify if there seems to be a strange or unexpected outcome on the other person's part.
When an American client states, "I only want an American doctor," the client is expressing: ethnocentrism. cultural relativity. cultural pervasiveness. racism.
Viewing one's own culture as superior to all others is ethnocentrism. Cultural relativity is the belief that to understand a person, you must understand that person's cultural context. Cultural pervasiveness refers to how widespread the effects of a culture are. Racism is the belief that one's race is superior to others.
