The Culture of Nursing

Step 1: Answer the following prompts:

• There is a “provider culture” that includes the common values,
  beliefs, and expectations of providers in the health care system. How
  would you describe the culture of nursing?
• In what ways might nurses project this culture onto their patients and clients?
• How might the culture of nursing conflict with the values and
  beliefs of patients? Please provide an example from your own practice.

Step 2: Read other students’ posts and respond to at least two of them.

Use your personal experience, if it’s relevant, to support or debate
other students’ posts. If differences of opinion occur, debate the
issues professionally and provide examples to support opinions.

Cite any sources in APA format.

Discussion response 1 Donna

As nurses, we are working with patients of different cultural
backgrounds. So we are expected to understand patients’ differences in
their beliefs, norms, practices, and desires for medical care and take
their perspectives into account when caring for them (Seal & Wiske,
2019).

Nurses can look at their own strengths and weaknesses when caring for
others who come from a different culture (Seal & Wiske, 2019).
Language is a common barrier, and if you have someone who speaks a
different language, then try and get a translator to help communicate
with that patient. Sometimes you may have to use a different form of
communication like pictures or writing things down on a dry erase board
because they can’t verbalize what they want. With nursing, you have to
be abatable to all kinds of situations to ensure you give the patient
the best care possible.

Sometimes as nurses, we don’t think about how we do things that could
affect our patients’ culture or beliefs. Like eye contact, just our
everyday routine, touching the patient on the shoulder, personal space,
and non-verbal communication can vary between cultures (Ferwerda, 2016).
I recently had a patient that was a new admission into the hospital,
and she was an older lady who didn’t want to have any males helping her
with any personal care. She was ok with males getting her vitals and
getting her something to eat or drink, but when she needed to use the
restroom or shower or help with dressing, she wanted to have a female
help with those things. The younger generations may think nothing of it
because they have just adapted to having male caregivers, but the older
generations are not used to having a male other than their spouse seeing
them.

Reference

Ferwerda, J. (2016, September 15). How to care for patients from different cultures. Nurse.org. https://nurse.org/articles/how-to-deal-with-patients-with-different-cultures/.

Seal, N., & Wiske, M. (2019, February 28). 5 ways to improve cultural competence in nursing care. Minority Nurse. https://minoritynurse.com/5-ways-to-improve-cultural-competence-in-nursing-care/.

Discussion response 2 Amber

The culture of nursing is that of accepting different beliefs,
cultures, and values. Nurses are the patient advocate and are
responsible for not only making sure the patient is getting effective
care but also that they’re personal beliefs and cultures are not being
ignored. Nurses typically bring a sense of “teamwork” to the job. I
believe all of these factors affects the patient and their visit
greatly. If a patient visits the ER and the nurse does not take the time
to understand their beliefs when it comes to their own health the
patient may be less likely to take an active role in their well-being,
resulting in a poor outcome. If there is a problem between nurses or
other medical staff, a patient may be able to pick up on that and feel
less comfortable with their care during their stay. If a nurse does not
check their own bias at the door and treats a patient differently
because of the patients beliefs or culture, that could also have a
negative impact on the patient. Luckily, I have never had to witness
this or be around this in my practice so far.

https://www.registerednursing.org/nclex/cultural-awareness-influences-health/

Discussion Question 2

What do you hope to gain from taking NUR 400 Research and Evidence-based Practice? How will that help you improve patient outcomes?

Discussion Question 3

Discussion

Step 1: Download “Engagement and Political Voice Checklist” found attached here.

Read and follow the directions before you complete step 2.

Step 2: Complete the checklist individually.

Step 3: Respond to the following questions:

• Do you consider yourself to be politically active?
• Why or why not?
• Do you feel that you are knowledgeable of the political process?
• Should nurses be politically active? Why or why not?
• How can nurses make a difference in the health of their patients and the public by shaping policy?
• What do you hope to learn during this course?

Step 4: Provide a meaningful response
to at least two of your peer’s posts. Cite any sources in APA format.

Response Posts: In
your responses to your classmates, contribute to the discussion with
your own original opinions based on the classmate’s comments and/or
interpretation of the course materials.

You are not required to provide research, a reference, or
in-text citations. Use your professional opinion to answer the
questions.

Discussion response 1 John

Directions: Complete the checklist individually and then respond to the following questions:

1. Do you consider yourself to be politically active? Why or why not? I
   don’t consider myself politically active. I do as everyone, have
   opinions but don’t apply myself to their ends. I’m also a government
   employee and restricted in political activities.

1. Do you feel that you are knowledgeable of the political process? I’m
   not knowledgeable enough. Many times, I hear on the news of a
   political process and I had no idea that was they way they took place.
2. Should nurses be politically active? Why or why not? Nurses should
   act in the best interests of their patients. If this takes the route of
   taking political action then nurses should be part of it.
3. How can nurses make a difference in the health of their patients and
   the public by shaping policy? Financial funding by the government is
   political. Influencing funding to be directed to causes that help
   patients may be done with the involvement of nurses.
4. What do you hope to learn during this course? How politics affect
   health care. How health care can be currently be improved by politics.

Never	Sometimes	Always	Yes	No
Engagement and Political Voice Checklist
For each item, check the box that applies to you. For the item on voter registration, use the “Yes” or “No” boxes.
I work to solve community problems	X
I volunteer regularly for an environmental group	X
I volunteer regularly for a civic or community organization	X
I volunteer regularly for any other organization	X
I belong or donated money to any group or organization	X
Besides donating money, I help raise money for charitable causes	X
I have registered to vote				yes
I vote in elections (regular voting)		X
I volunteer for a political campaign or candidate	X
I encourage others to vote		X
I wear a campaign button or have a sticker on my vehicle	X
I volunteer for a candidate, work or contribute money to a political party, or an organization that supports candidates	X
I contacted/visit public officials	X
I contact a newspaper or magazine	X
I contact a radio or television news show	X
I protest	X
I sign an e-mail petition	X
I sign a written petition		X
I boycott companies		X
I buy something to support the values of a company		X

Directions: Complete the checklist individually and then respond to the following questions:

1. Do you consider yourself to be politically active? Why or why not? I
   don’t consider myself politically active. I do as everyone, have
   opinions but don’t apply myself to their ends. I’m also a government
   employee and restricted in political activities.

1. Do you feel that you are knowledgeable of the political process? I’m
   not knowledgeable enough. Many times, I hear on the news of a
   political process and I had no idea that was they way they took place.
2. Should nurses be politically active? Why or why not? Nurses should
   act in the best interests of their patients. If this takes the route of
   taking political action then nurses should be part of it.
3. How can nurses make a difference in the health of their patients and
   the public by shaping policy? Financial funding by the government is
   political. Influencing funding to be directed to causes that help
   patients may be done with the involvement of nurses.
4. What do you hope to learn during this course? How politics affect
   health care. How health care can be currently be improved by politics.