Diversity

• Diversity

  The unique variations among and between individuals, variations that are informed by genetics and cultural background, but that are refined by experience and personal choice
• Culture

  A pattern of shared beliefs, values, and behaviors common to a group speaking the same language or living in the same geographic area
• Beliefs

  Ideas that people hold as true
• Values

  Things that people consider to be meaningful, and important and are derived from beliefs
• Behavior

  Actions that guide beliefs and values
• Acculturation

  The process of when an individual or group transitions from one culture and develops traits of another culture
• Acculturation

  • An immigrant from China develops a preference for Western foods and music
• Assimilation

  The process by which a person gives up his or her original identity and develops a new cultural identity by becoming absorbed into the dominant cultural group
• Assimilation

  • A Native American loses his Native identity after living in Chicago for 10 years
• Biculturalism

  Dual pattern of identification
• Biculturalism

  • A woman of Christian faith married to a Muslim adopts some Muslim practices and also maintains some traditional Christian practices
• Ethnicity and ethnic identity

  Influenced by culture and common ancestry
• Race

  Influenced by physical or biologic characteristics
• Health traditions for Hispanic population


  • If your belly is pointy, the baby will be a boy, and if it spreads out to the sides, the baby will be a girl
  • If your face looks rounder, the baby will be a girl, and if you gain weight on your rear end, the baby will be a boy
  • Tie a hair to the mother's wedding band and suspend it above her belly. If it goes around in circles, the baby will be a girl. If it sways from side to side, the baby will be a boy
  • If you lift your hands above your head, your baby could be strangled by the umbilical cord
  • If you see something ugly when you're pregnant, your baby will be ugly, too
  • If you don't satisfy an expectant mom's cravings, you'll get a dark mark on your nose
• Health protection practices in Hispanic culture

  • From Evil Eye-thought to be the result of envy, hate, or jealousy
  • Treated by rubbing an egg over the body part affected while reciting a prayer
  • Use of Amulets, charms, parchment scrolls, bangles, talisman
  • Use of substances and herbs such as raw garlic, onions, and oils
  • Folk medicine or healer: Curandero may be consulted for healthcare before an American healthcare worker
• Islamic rituals for dying patients

  • Dying clients confess their sins
  • The body faces Mecca
  • The body is washed and enveloped in a white cloth
  • A Prayer is said
• According to Islamic principles, ending one's life due to pain, suffering, or other reasons is considered suicide and is forbidden
• Muslims believe that all human life is sacred and only God determines its life span
• In Islamic practice, when death becomes inevitable, the patient should be allowed to die without unnecessary procedures
• Jehovah's Witnesses

  Do not accept blood transfusions, even in life-threatening situations
• Jehovahs witness law is prohibited when it comes to children that are 10 years old or less
• Spirituality

  May play an important role in patient's ability to achieve balance in life, maintain health, seek health care, and deal with illness and injury
• Hope

  A concept that includes anticipation and optimism and provides comfort during times of crisis
• Faith

  A belief in something or a relationship with a higher power, and can be defined by a culture or a religion
• Transcendence

  The existence or experience beyond the normal or physical state
• Spiritual distress

  A challenge to belief systems
• Spiritual distress arises as a result of catastrophic events
• When patients are unable to find ways to cope through the use of spiritual practices they may experience spiritual distress
• Nursing interventions for spiritual distress

  Directed at identification, restoration, and/or reconnection of patients and families to spiritual strength
• Diversity competence in nursing

  • Requires underlying acceptance of patient's health beliefs
  • Requires adapting care to meet unique needs and perspectives of individuals
  • Nurses must recognize that disease is a response to physiological causes explained by pathophysiology and manifested by signs and symptoms, but also recognize that all illnesses reflect the influences of the environment, including an individual's cultural experiences
  • Nurses must make reasonable accommodations to help the hospitalized patient be at ease in order to heal
• Bias

  Tendency to act, think, or feel a certain way toward other people
• Examples of bias

  • Stereotyping people
  • Ethnocentrism
• Nursing interventions to demonstrate cultural competence

  • Learn and use a few phrases of greeting in the patient's native language
  • Use an interpreter; share this with the patient and stop periodically
  • When speaking or listening, watch the patient, not the interpreter
  • Repeat important information more than once
  • Always give the reason or purpose for a treatment or prescription
  • Make sure the patient understands by having them explain it themselves
  • Teach patients their options and let them decide