Transcultural Assessment - Free Essay Sample

Introduction

Giger and Davidhizar’s Transcultural Assessment Model help nurses to offer culturally competent care. The model allows nurses to evaluate the cultural values of the patient and plan policies that ease effective relations with the client (Giger, 2016). The framework of cultural assessment permits for the utilization of observational methods to examine culturally diverse patients hence guaranteeing comprehension of their heritage, beliefs, behaviors, and attitudes. Each individual is culturally unique, and nurses should use the model to evaluate communication, environmental control, space, time, social organizational, and biological variation (Giger, 2016). Thus, this transcultural model offers an outline for patient evaluation allowing for culturally designed acute care.

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Culturally Unique Individual

T.J is a 60-year-old Asian female, and eight months ago, she was diagnosed with chronic kidney failure. In the last three months, she began hemodialysis treatment. She was born in Malaysia and has worked in that nation for over 30 years. She is a widow with five children and three grandchildren. Before the chronic kidney failure diagnosis, T.J was undergoing financial stressors. She had no healthcare insurance hence was hesitant in spending cash on expensive medical examination. T.J frequently relied on herbal medicines from an individual traditional herbalist. After losing consciousness at home, her children rushed T.J to the healthcare where a blood test revealed kidney failure. T.J obtains dialysis three times every week.

Communication

Communication adopts the whole globe of human behavior and interaction. It creates a sense of commonality with other individuals and allows the sharing of messages and information hence expressing feelings and ideas (Sagar & Sagar, 2018). Distinct cultures share diverse methods of communication. People learn both nonverbal and verbal communication through their culture. The information or message presented signifies the most substantial challenge in operating with cultural teams. The significant aspects of communication include rhythm, touch, vocabulary, style, kinesics, volume, body posture, and context of speech (emotional tone). Nurses should participate in effective cross-cultural communication to deliver quality care.

The patient is a bilingual speaker but not very fluent as she takes much time while expressing her ideas. According to Giger (2016), communication is primarily a challenge, especially when working with patients from diverse cultural groups. T.J does not often utilize any body language, and her voice tone is generally low as she feels emotional about her condition. One of the patient’s children helps healthcare professionals comprehend what T.J tries to communicate. When the patient is unable to converse to the caregiver, the bilingual nurse acts as a translator (Li et al., 2017).

The nurse evaded medical jargon terminologies and euphemisms as they can change the conversation direction and hinder clear communication. The utilization of transparent and particular language allowed the family members to comprehend the care plan. The patient often avoided eye contact when communicating with the authorities. In numerous Asian cultures, avoiding eye contact when interacting is regarded as a sign of respect. T.J does not react to touch as she accepts them without any challenges. The nurse motivated the family members and patients to ask questions. The caregiver asked them questions like ‘have you, by any case, misunderstood me, either through body language or spoken words?’ and ‘Do you like communicating with your acquaintances, friends or family?’ The nurse needed to start the dialogue as substantial concerns may be left unaddressed. Thus, it is the nurse’s accountability to guarantee that the patient and his family comprehend issues regarding chronic kidney failure.

Space

Individuals differ significantly in their levels of comfort linked to personal space, while others are a deliberation of cultural values. Space is the intimacy and distance method used when connecting nonverbally or verbally with other people. Besides, space allows individuals to communicate effectively. According to Giger (2016), there exist four different interpersonal space zones, such as public, consultative, personal, and intimate. Rules regarding individual distance differ from diverse cultures. Personal space is the body extension and is identified as the outer space, while personal awareness space is the inner space. Nurses should be alert of their level of patients’ comfort connected to body distance in conversation, the perspective of space, eye contact, proximity to family members, and individual as well as cultural touch practices (Giger, 2016). Violation of an individual’s freedom can lead to discomfort and reluctance in engaging with the medics.

In numerous Asian cultures, there exists a broader sense of personal space, usually of 18 inches, resulting in individuals standing farther away from each other (Li et al., 2017). Also, Asians usually avoid touching someone of the opposite sex; however, it is usual for people of the same gender to hold hands in the public. T.J avoids communicating with personal space as she regularly evaded touch or closeness with the nurse. Maintaining a larger personal space is regarded as a sign of respect. Therefore, after assessing the Asian cultural attributes, the nurse engaged in suitable personal contact with the client.

Social Organization

The social organization enables humans to adapt and learn cultural beliefs. People from culturally diverse contexts will all manifest various levels of acculturation into the principles of their prevailing culture (Sagar & Sagar, 2018). Social organization is the process in which a cultural team manages itself around the family group (Sagar & Sagar, 2018). Religious beliefs and values, family organization, and structure, as well as role assignments, may link to culture and ethnicity. In some situations, cultural standards originate from the patriarchs or elder’s opinions, while others stem from the position in the family.

T.J has a fair state of health, and a widow with five children enjoys spending time with her youngsters during free time. The family believes in Allah as a supreme being. The family members saw the reason for the chronic illness as the will of Allah and understood that the recovery or decline procedures were dependent on their god. Also, they claimed that this illness was a temptation of their lives by Allah. The family-centered system is substantial in delivering support to patients obtaining care. One of the patient’s sons was ready to offer his kidney to the mother as according to their Islamic religion, it was acceptable to perform organ transplantation. The lastborn child was responsible for the mother’s care, whereas all the other children were accountable for meeting financial costs. One of the children stated that since they were young, their relationship with their parents was very close, and could share any challenges in their lives; hence they all come together to help each in times of need. The family has no health insurance from the government, and the T.J is a seasonal agricultural farmer.

Time

Time is a substantial element of interpersonal communication. Cultural background embeds the time concept (Giger, 2016). Besides, cultural teams can be either present, past, or future-oriented. People who concentrate on the past try to offer tradition and have less significant inspiration for articulating future objectives (Giger, 2016). Other individuals tend to be present-time positioned, and if perceived as the most substantial, people in the culture incline to be ungrateful of the past hence not forecasting for the future. Also, persons with a future-time orientation strategy typically establish current actions to attain imminent goals. Preventive health care necessitates some future-time orientation as impending rewards motivate precautionary measures. Numerous cultures link time in terms of social and clock periods, while others relate to the foundation of social time.

Nurses need to be diligent with time as they are busy healthcare professionals. Caregivers are conscious and acute to evade distracting the practices which create an operative unit. Sleeping at least eight hours in a day helps in improving memory and healing as well as repairing of blood and heart vessels. Asian nations tend to concentrate on past time orientation as they are concerned about traditional methods of performing things (Im & Lee, 2018). For instance, T.J declined to go to the hospital and depended on herbs from a traditional herbalist. Also, T.J highly focuses on the increasing medical bills, which she fears might augment, causing a financial burden to the family. The nurse was competent in enhancing trust with the family members and patients. During the visiting hours, the family members were very punctual as they considered time to be very substantial in their culture. They believed that planning for the future is insignificant as Allah gives life to the people.

Environmental Control

Environmental control is the capacity of an individual to plan and control nature as well as direct aspects of the atmosphere that impact human beings. Individuals who believe in less internal and more external control creates a fatalistic perception that healthcare is useless (Sagar & Sagar, 2018). Nurses have to comprehend that these concerns play a very imperative role in the technique patients describe wellness and illness, reply to health-related experiences, and use hospital resources.

Asians tend to believe they have less personal control; hence fate, luck, and chance have to do with the external perceptions of things (Im & Lee, 2018). The family believes that T.Js condition was Allah’s will. They believe that Allah will intercede on patients with cancer. Muslims believe in supernatural powers such as witchcraft and the evil eye. Besides, Muslims do not rely on witchcraft or magic but believe that prayer is imperative in obtaining a more significant benefit (Elham et al., 2015). During the day, the family members prayed at least five times a day while moving in different positions to maintain their connection with Allah. The patient’s children believed in home remedy herbs that they have frequently utilized to heal illness such as heart, respiratory, and heart diseases and improve chronic pain. Also, T.J’s children claim that they will continue using these traditional herbs as home remedies. Asians believe that good health is a result of harmony and wealth, while deprived well-being is due to poverty. T.J believed that poverty was one of the factors that contributed to her health condition. She lacked medical cover and was afraid to utilize much money in hospital expenses.

Conclusion

Finally, it is substantial to evaluate carefully biological variations when examining a patient’s cultural foundations, to evade discrimination and stereotypes (Sagar & Sagar, 2018). These aspects comprise body structure, race, nutritional preferences, genetic variations, and psychological features. It is imperative to gain knowledge regarding general baseline information comparative to the particular cultural group when offering culturally appropriate care (Im & Lee, 2018). Caregivers must remember the individual’s uniqueness, and their connection with an ethnic group does not denote that they will observe the socially acknowledged description of the biological establishment.