The Need for Cultural Concepts in Nursing Curricula

Exploring Chinese Women's Cultural Beliefs and Behaviours Regarding the Practice of “Doing the Month”

It is well recognized that individual health behavior is embedded in cultural patterns of exchange. This study sought to identify Chinese women's cultural beliefs and behaviors related "doing the month" and suggest how these are modified in the light of contemporary realities and experiences within the context of rapid social change. Ethnographic interview data was gathered by means of a telephone interviews (postnatally) with 100 eligible primiparous women who had attended hospital based antenatal programmes. The analysis highlighted a range of issues for these predominantly middle class women which included special postpartum dietary beliefs and behaviours including the avoidance of hot and cold food, the restorative powers of food, wind and water prohibitions, food prescriptions and prohibitions during breast feeding, the cultural imperative of timing and contemporary autonomy of women versus conforming to female centered kinship obligations. It is concluded that health professionals working with Chinese women need further awareness of the cultural significance of adherence to post natal practices and their fundamental links to the health status of post partum women, and family relationships.

Preparation of nurses to meet the needs of an ethnically diverse society: educational implications

In recognizing the multiethnic composition of contemporary society in the UK, this paper considers the implications for nurse education in respect of preparing practitioners who are capable of meeting the needs of an ethnically diverse population. It begins by considering briefly some contextual issues relating to the health needs of ethnic minorities and how they impact upon nursing practice. The literature clearly indicates some of the complexities that nurses face in attempting to deliver care which is responsive to the individual needs of patients in a multicultural context. The question then arises as to how nurse education can most effectively prepare future practitioners. Consideration is given to the curriculum content, methods and approaches that may be utilized together with different teaching and learning strategies. The case is made for the need for nurse educators to also consider the recruitment and support of students from ethnic minority groups, if nursing is to make progress in responding more appropriately to the needs of ethnic minority groups in the UK.

Teaching cultural competence. The value of experiential learning and community resources

Nurse educators are responsible for developing graduates who are culturally competent care givers and marketable as culturally sensitive coworkers. An undergraduate course in transcultural nursing is described that relies heavily on experiential learning activities and local community resources. Student evaluations reveal both immediate and long-term effects of this course on graduates' clinical practice.

"Doing the month": an exploration of postpartum practices in Chinese women

An ethnographic approach was used to explore the cultural practices of Hong Kong Chinese women during the postpartum period. Seven multiparous women were interviewed and asked to reflect on their self-care practices within the family home during the month after the birth of their first child. Content analysis was applied to the interviews and major categories identified: good food and bad blood, poisonous sex, dirt and prohibitions, rest and appeasing the placenta god, and competing loyalties. The indication is that these Chinese mothers had attempted to follow their personally constructed interpretations of traditional customary practices, being influenced by close family members, neighbors, and historical precedent. These women further outlined a number of personal variations to traditional practices in the face of increasingly Western influences. We provide insights into the complexity of issues modern Hong Kong Chinese women face in the first postpartum month and on a more global level highlight the importance of culturally sensitive and congruent nursing practice.

Transcultural nursing: transforming the curriculum

More than three decades have passed since Leininger established the field of transcultural nursing as a research based specialty which is recognized around the world as an essential and formal area of study and practice. When the importance of culture to nursing was first articulated by Leininger in the early 1950s, knowledge and awareness of these cultural influences were largely unknown and unrecognized in nursing education. The typical 1950s nursing curricula were soundly rooted in biophysical medical content, technical skills, tasks, and practices with no mention of cultural influences. Few nursing faculty had formal academic preparation in the social sciences, and Leininger was the first professional nurse with doctoral preparation in anthropology.

Santería

The purpose of this ethnographic research was to explore the role of Santería in the orientation of Long Island Cuban-Americans towards health and illness. Santería serves both explanatory and treatment functions. By attributing the cause of illness to supernatural forces, Santería explains why some people stay well while others get sick. By dispelling malignant supernatural forces, mobilizing beneficial supernatural forces, and decreasing uncertainty and stress, Santería helps to maintain or reinstate balance and a sense of control over one's life. An understanding of the role of Santería in the conceptualization of Long Island Cuban-Americans towards health and health care behaviors provides a needed link between a people's perception of health and illness and the interventions that they find meaningful and acceptable.

Promoting transcultural care in a college of health care studies

This article describes the steps taken by the North London College of Health Studies to facilitate the development and delivery of culturally sensitive courses. It suggests that transcultural education for transcultural care can only truly be achieved if the organisational ethos, the epistemology which underpins the curriculum and the way that this is structured and taught, articulate together into a cohesive framework to enable the rhetoric to become reality.

Educational issues in transcultural nursing

Transcultural nursing education is an essential element of the nursing curriculum. There are a number of curriculum designs available but a combination of approaches seems to be the most desirable way forward.

The development of a conceptual model for multicultural nursing

Cultural diversity exists among all humans, and nurses and patients are no exception to this general phenomenon. The cultural backgrounds of individual nurses and patients are composed of learned norms, values, customs, and beliefs. If nurses are to be as effective as they might in providing holistic nursing care to patients of culturally diverse backgrounds, their technical expertise must be complemented by knowledge of and respect for the various cultures. This is particularly true in situations where nurses are from cultural and ethnic backgrounds different from the patients for whom they are caring. The development of a conceptual model for multicultural nursing practice, based on King's Theory of Goal Attainment, provides direction for both practice and research in nursing and is an essential initial step toward better preparing nurses to provide holistic care in a global society.

Evaluation study of a transcultural discovery learning model

This qualitative, descriptive study explored the extent to which students' discovery learning centered around cultural understanding and sensitivity occurs in a clinical rotation involving migrant health care. Thirteen nursing students enrolled in this community health clinical rotation were the study sample. Demographically, they were similar to other baccalaureate students in the school of nursing. Characteristics that set them apart were their levels of maturity, motivation, and independence, and their ability to cope with stress and ambiguity. Student journal entries were used to explore changes in cultural understanding and sensitivity over the course of an intensive six-week clinical experience. The method of inquiry was qualitative descriptive. Discovery learning from the perspective of the students was analyzed using domain analysis scheme. Themes that emerged from analysis of the data were personal and professional growth, specialized nursing practice roles with ethnic minorities, and health care system needs and issues for culturally sensitive care. Our findings contribute to faculty understanding of the degree to which student nurses make a transformation in terms of cultural understanding and sensitivity, and the process by which increased cultural understanding and sensitivity result in application of theoretical transcultural concepts.

Cultural diversity: a resource in planning and implementing nursing care

America's cultural diversity challenges the ability of nurses to respond with sensitivity to client needs. Enhancement of the client's health practices is contingent on the nurse's ability to use the individual's culturally based beliefs and values as an integral component in the design of nursing interventions. Nurse and client engage in a truly collaborative planning and implementation of care only after there is mutual understanding of the special meaning of beliefs and values from which health behaviors are derived. Educational preparation with experience in applying cultural knowledge is essential to the development of sensitive nursing practice. Integrating such information and experiences into baccalaureate nursing curricula through a sociocultural project will enhance student awareness of client values and beliefs and their potential nursing implications. Strategies exist for helping students recognize, accept, and use these features in planning and implementing nursing care.