Question

How do nurses’ own cultural values and beliefs affect their nursing care? Give specific examples of attitudes and their potential consequences.

Answer 1

Nurses' practice must incorporate cultural needs and beliefs into their nursing practice to provide care that is individualized for the client and appropriate to the client's needs.

If nurse's cultural attitude and belief is positive it benefits the patient but unpleasant attitude in workplace make patient feel uncomfortable. Nurse's own beliefs and values may affect the bonding of patient to nurse.

Nurses’ personal values and beliefs should not interfere with the delivery of their nursing care when preparing the care of critically ill patient and family. The nursing role has changed much over the years.

Culture is a collection of learned, adaptive, and socially and intergenerationally transmitted behaviors, values, beliefs, and customs that form the context from which a group interprets the human experience. Culture can greatly affect client health, as well as their reactions to treatments and care.

Cultural values refer to continue ideals or belief systems to which a person or society is involved.Good communication skills required for patient -nurse relationship for therapeutic practice, it can prevent conflict in caring patients.

Different in languages, habits, customs attitude and beliefs can lead to client's feelings of isolation and loneliness especially in children's.

For example :- Transculturally, touch can be interpreted in different ways depending on the cultural understanding of the client. Regardless of culture, clients are more at ease with physical contact from a nurse .Some members of this cultural group may consider it impolite to touch a person's head.

This may be considered to cultural prohibition in some others religious beliefs and values especially the segregation of man and woman.

touching of the patient is part of serving in therapeutic relationship with patients but comforting by touching was considered by patients as not important caring behaviour.