Nursing in Different Cultures – Hispanic Cultures Coursework

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Members of a culture may have dissimilar measures of loyalty basing on the main values. Indeed, countries that were culturally intolerant are becoming culturally varied. As such, conflicting perspectives influence the cultural beliefs and ethical values of people since they believe they are right or better. This is attributable to the increased communication, migration and trade. Cultural conflicts can occur when nurses acknowledge the influence of their values on global health. As such, this paper focuses on the cultural concerns attributable to health among Hispanics.

Cultural beliefs related to health in the Hispanic culture

Health practices (Transcultural Nursing, 2008)

They should be pampered when unwell because the family shows love and concern.
They believe that health is God’s gift and they should always thank him.
People who are sick count on family members, especially elders, for reassurance and advice
The elders propose harmless and simple home therapy.
Women are valued and should be protected because the harmony of the family rely on their welfare
They may overlook protective health care and may not show up for appointments.
They are mostly catholic and birth control methods are unacceptable.
They see thinness as a problem therefore; they do not follow an advice that a patient should lose weight because it creates a negative body image.
They have a social healer called curandero and people seek help from him for social, bodily and emotional issues.
Most of their treatments have elements of catholic and Pentecostal rituals and artifacts.

Maintaining good health:

Offering Prayers which involves laying of hands
Wearing of religious medals
Keeping relics in the homes (Ludwick & Silva, 2000)

Health practices specific to pregnancy, birthing process and childrearing

Hispanic women avoid hot food during pregnancy because they believe it can cause the child to be born with spots and rashes.
During pregnancy, women should be active to help in development of a child that is healthy with a better temperament.
Women should avoid wearing anything around the neck, clothes that have elastic, and to reach for things that are up to void problems with umbilical cord.
Intercourse may be halted during pregnancy since they believe it can harm the baby.
Screaming during delivery can impair the baby.
They are not supposed to take any pain medicine because it may harm the baby
They believe that crawling can help to the baby to be in a correct position if it were found to be in bad position.
During labor, the mother may want to dress in bright clothes because they believe the clothes bring babies with better attitudes and intelligence

Attending a woman during delivery is a woman’s job, specifically her mother and midwife.
A husband is prevented from seeing his wife and baby until after delivery and have been washed and clothed
Hispanic women prefer their mothers’ care in times of labor
They practice the custom of lying-in period.
Clothes diapers are preferred because they believe disposable plastic diapers are not good for the skin of the baby.
After some months of breast-feeding, the mothers have to take minute amounts of beer to give milk
Babies take some herbal teas to help calm a them if they are colic

Causes of illness in Hispanic culture

Hotness or coldness imbalance
Dislocation of internal organs
Magical or emotional origin
Fright
Stomach cramps is caused a ball of food sticking to the wall of the stomach

Health practices specific to end of life rituals (Sherman, 2008).

To the Hispanics, home is the preferred place of death
They do not focus on life support, especially if it prolongs the suffering of the patient.
They believe that fatalism and reliance to God are the central decision making regarding to end-of-life care
Death is often confronted with a humorous sarcasm and is viewed as an equalizer.
They believe that the dead return to the world of the living

Physiological variations of the Hispanic that affects treatment or response to treatment

Hispanic patients require less antidepressant medicines (Sutker & Adams, 2001).
They have more detrimental effects at lessened dosages than the whites (Sutker & Adams, 2001).

Role of nursing in the Hispanic Culture

Most Hispanics are not aware of nursing services and have false information.
They believe God can care for them more than nurses
Male nurses cannot help their women when giving birth.

Conclusion

Cultural values are the lasting belief systems, which a society focuses on. The worth of nursing in the country is embedded on the ethics of the American traditions with focus on self-sufficiency and independence. Fundamental aspects of the worth placed on individuality are the attitudes indicating that people have the capability to upgrade themselves. As such, an individual’s rights are vital as compared to the society. In most cultural practices, the families and the society make health decisions. Indeed, ethical conflicts occur within cultures when influenced by sub cultural values. It is important to educate staff about cultural variations and design systems that will encourage respect and offer care to all people based on their beliefs.

References

Ludwick, R., & Silva, M.C. (2000). Ethics: Nursing Around the World: Cultural Values and Ethical Conflicts. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing Vol. 5, 3

Sherman, W. (2009). Palliative care nursing: quality care to the end of life. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company.

Sutker, B., & Adams, E. (2001). Comprehensive handbook of psychopathology. New York, NY: Gulf Professional Publishing.

Transcultural Nursing. (2008). The Hispanic American Community. Cultural Diversity in Nursing. Web.

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