Cultural Diversity and Nursing Care

Cultural Diversity and Nursing Care Plan A culturally diverse population, like in Hawaii, lends itself to unique problems for healthcare professionals. Culture shapes perceptions, expectations, and behavior (Taylor, Lillis, LeMone, & Lynn, 2008). When different cultures are involved, the perceptions, expectations, and behavior that come with each can impact the effectiveness of care. Consequently, to offer the best nursing care possible, it is imperative to alter a nursing care plan to fit the needs of a culturally diverse population.

Nursing diagnoses have been accused of being culturally insensitive, with terminology including ineffective coping and noncompliance, but those diagnoses may be linked to cultural beliefs and behavior (Walsh, 2004). In addressing these diagnoses, a nursing care plan should take into account the cultural factors that may have brought it about. The care plan should incorporate learning about the cultures, gathering relevant information, and using the information to tailor the care delivered to patients in a manner that works within the patients' culture.

The first step to take in creating a care plan for the culturally diverse is to become familiar with the cultures' beliefs. Some cultures believe in alternative sources of medical treatment. For example, a patient may be seeing an herbalist in conjunction with a physician and may be received an herbal remedy and a pharmaceutical that, together, cause the patient to be overmedicated (Taylor et al., 2008).

By being aware that a patient may be seeking complementary or alternative forms of care, the nurse knows what information should be collected in order to provide better care. It is also important to understand different cultures' opinions on aspects of medicine. A cultural perception about a certain medical practice may cause a patient to be noncompliant with the prescribed treatment (Walsh, 2004).

For example, if a culture believes that meditation or prayer should be used over drugs, a patient may choose to forego medicine provided by the doctor, which would appear noncompliant. A nursing care plan could incorporate preferred sources of treatment, allowing the patient time to use those, with the pharmaceutical or other treatment being the next step. Other cultural perceptions may impact the way in which illness is perceived and, thus, change the individuals' treatment-seeking behavior (Taylor et al., 2008).

For example, some cultures simply do not believe in certain types of illness, like mental illness. If a culture does not perceive a type of illness to exist, people within the culture are unlikely to seek treatment. A care plan should be aware of these cultural barriers and be aware of unacknowledged health problems. The care plan should incorporate, when possible an explanation of these illnesses in a manner that is not in conflict with cultural beliefs, such as explaining mental illness in the context of its physical manifestation.

A nursing care plan should also incorporate long-term development, such as education for the nurses and the patients. By virtue of being in a minority group, some cultural populations may not be aware of the resources available to them or have less knowledge about self-care and treatment options (Walsh, 2004). By educating the patients, preferably using channels within their community, the existence.