Free Paper Example on Cultural Beliefs

Introduction

The world is comprised of people with different cultural beliefs. These beliefs affect how they interact with the environment around them. With increased interaction of people, some particular areas of the world, such as the United States of America, are becoming more diverse. It is, therefore, crucial to understand how various people behave by becoming culturally competent. Cultural competence defines our will and behavior to develop an understanding between people, showing respect to different cultural perceptions, and building equity in life opportunities. In a health care professional such as nursing, cultural competence is defined as healthcare providers and organizations' capability to efficiently deliver healthcare services that satisfy the social, linguistic, and cultural needs of patients (Curtis et al., 2016). According to an article published in Critical Nurse Care (2020) (Bell, 2020), cultural competence helps nurses create a good relationship with patients. In addition, improve relationship and communication is a crucial factor in evaluating patients’ needs and developing the necessary treatments.

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The paper's main concerns will include communication, family roles and organizations, biopsychosocial-cultural aspects, nutrition, healthcare practices, and spiritual problems of the identified cultures and how they relate to nursing.

Communication

Each culture shows diversity in the primary language and dialects. For Chinese culture, the primary language is the Chinese language, a constitution of seven major dialects that shows several variations. Out of the dialects, Mandarin dialects are the most common, accounting for 71.5% of the population (Zhang, 2018). Each idiom is different not only in the way they talk but also about various aspects of life. In Mexican culture, there are about 68 indigenous languages that are recognized in Mexico. In those languages, there exist a variety of dialects with close to 200 dialects spoken in Mexico. Some of the dialects have become extinct, with some also on the edge of extinction. Some are only spoken by a small percentage in the population, especially the older generations in remote communities. The official language is Mexican Spanish that is used for official communication. Nurses should know the most common languages and enhance good communication (Lopez, 2017).

Nonverbal communication is a universal way of communicating without using words. Most of the nonverbal communications are common in the two culture with little variations. In both Mexican and Chinese cultures, vertical nodding of the head is a way of agreeing or accepting something. Horizontal nodding is a sigh of saying yes or disagreeing with something. Therefore, nurses should be familiar and observant of such communication skills if they do not establish a common language with their patients.

One of the most critical aspects of communication is expressing emotions and feelings. The most important senses that patients communicate with nurses are emotions of pain, discomfort, and relief. In both cultures, males are identified to hide such feelings to prove their strength and endurance. On the other hand, females are known to freely express pain and discomfort mostly by crying, which hardly happens for males. Therefore, it becomes hard for a nurse to assess the condition of males. Pain can also be accessed by observing how the body of patients’ function. A nurse should be equipped with other skills that enable them to attend to patients despite such occurrences.

The use of touch can also be considered as another nonverbal communication skill. Using such skills people use this skill by touching things that they are referring to. From a medical perspective, patients can touch a part of their bodies under pain or a part of the body that they think is sick. In Mexican culture, some people believing in touching a part of the body to identify any abnormality such as inflammation. Some also consider that the best treatment is offered when the body is assessed through touch. Therefore, nurses should know such behavior to help improve the satisfaction of their patients by observing and asking questions.

Death Rituals

In Chinese culture, the dead are respected with a memorable send-off. Unique funerals are prepared for the elders in the community. The same case goes for Mexican culture. In Chinese culture, the body is washed, dusted with talcum powder, and dressed accordingly, ready to be buried (Oleszkiewicz-Peralba, 2018). In Mexican culture, the body is also cleaned and dressed, ready to be buried. In both cultures, the family members and close friends are allowed to mourn before the burial. This helps in emotional healing while dealing with the loss. The main difference between the two cultures is that the Chinese believe that the deceased's children should prepare burial. Without children, the body is left in funeral homes (Liu, 2019). Therefore, parents are not given a chance to mourn for their unmarried children, leading to emotionally related diseases such as depression. Nurses should, therefore, be equipped to handle such conditions by offering emotional support.

Spirituality

The most dormant religion in Chinese culture is Buddhism and Folk Religions for Mexican culture, Catholic Christianity is the primary religion making up 82.5% of the population (Arthur, 2019). Each of these religions believes in the existence of a higher power with control of significant aspects of life, such as the healing of diseases. Thus, people seek healing from such higher powers. Traditional spiritual leaders are appreciated in both cultures. Due to cultural diversity, some people believe in spiritual healing more than seeking medical treatment. Nurses must identify people within different cultures who believe in specific treatment methods (Zavala-Pelayo, 2019).

Conclusion

Thus, this paper aims to assess and analyze two diverse cultures, Mexican and Chinese with particular emphasis on healthy and unhealthy patterns as well as the significance of nursing intervention. The information will be collected from published medical journals. Mexican culture is one of the richest and vibrant cultures in the world (Lopez, 2016). The culture is influenced by antique civilizations such as Maya and Aztec. Chinse culture is also a fascinating culture. It is an ancient civilization aged around 5000 years old and deeply influenced by Confucianism (Jinghua, 2017). The culture feature material and spiritual values that are barely changed due to external factors such as civilizations.