Cultural and Racial Differences in Rural Health Nursing

Racial Diversity in Rural Nursing

Describe the problems associated with Racial Difference in rural health care nursing and what successful strategies can be made where racial and cultural differences are apparent factors. What rational to supported their behaviors? What could be done differently today?

Why? And with these difference how can one incorporate strategy for providing culturally competent care?

In rural communities that once lacked a long-standing tradition of racial diversity, but that have now become increasingly diverse, it can be difficult to broach issues of health and wellness if the nurse feels that there are strong tensions within the larger environment between his or her own ethnic group and the ethnic group of his or her patient. But regardless of the cultural divide that exists between patient and nurse, the hospital must improve upon rather than simply reflect society.

True, quite often, a nurse may experience difficulty discussing a sensitive topic even with an individual from a similar background as her own, and this difficulty may be exacerbated when the patient and nurse lacks an apparent common point of reference. Nurses who rely upon common touchstones of experience when humanizing treatment with a patient -- for example, comforting a woman about to go through childbirth with some of her own experiences in this area -- might experience difficulty finding a common experiential ground with someone from a new community.

First and foremost, it is important to remember that all people have similar generational experiences and worries about their health, and creating a common bond between one's patient and one's own experiences should not be foreign, regardless of the racial background or social environment outside the hospital. However some communities, such as members Hispanic or Black populations that might have genetic tendencies to diabetes, for example, might be 'different' in a way that must be addressed by the nurse, but might be difficult to do so in a sensitive way for fear that a member of a discriminated group in a rural setting might possible take offense at the subject. In such instances, the use of parallel examples from members of the community (showing the nurses' familiarity in treating the illness), of simply listening to the afflicted individual, and of counseling the family and drawing forth their collective support as well as members of the hospital who come from a different culture can be helpful. If the grandmother of a diabetic African-American boy counsels him to watch his sugar, after discussing this issue with a nurse, this may have more impact upon the child than hearing it from a nurse in a clinical context.