Question

What are some nursing interventions for the Chinese Culture? Any accommodation necessary to provide culturally sensitive care?

Answer 1

Nursing interventions for Chinese culture should understand the following criterias:

1. Health care beliefs -cunfucianism,taosism,yin and yang,illness stems from imbalance,health proper diet,herbs and special soups to treat illness
2. Family involvement
3. Gender roles
4. Dietry preferences  -balancing of yin and yang foods,intake of fruits and green leafy vegetables,avoidance of fried foods,steam and boiled low fatty dietry foods.
5.    Spirtuality / Religious beliefs
6. Common practices

   

Dealing with the Chinese culture

  Explaining the Cause of Illness and Disease • Your patient may have specific cultural beliefs, for example they may view illness and death as a natural part of life. • Health may be viewed as finding harmony between complementary energies such as cold and hot, dark and light. These forces are called yin and yang. Most Chinese actually are very comfortable with duality between western and traditional Chinese health beliefs. Building Bridges Between Traditional Remedies and Western Health Care • Your patient may use foods and herbs to restore yin/yang balance. In addition to special foods, your patient may use other traditional Chinese remedies as an initial approach for healing, especially during the early stages of illness. Some traditional Chinese therapies, including massage, acupuncture, and moxibuxtion are commonly used as an adjunct to western medicine. • Your patient may prefer to drink only hot liquids (water or tea) when sick or postpartum. • Patients may try traditional approaches first, and will seek western medical care if these treatments fail. Patients may occasionally delay seeking care out of concern for communication barriers, costs, etc. As a result, patients may present at the medical center acutely ill. - Ask your patient, “What do you call your problem? When did it start? What do you think caused the problem? Have you taken any medicines or herbs? What results have you had from the medicines or herbs? Do you believe the illness is serious? How can I help you?” - Build bridges between traditional medicine and western care: when considering traditional practices, determine when the remedies are beneficial, neutral, or harmful. Incorporate beneficial and neutral remedies into the plan of care, such as dietary advice. Consider potential drug interactions.

Helping Your Patient Understand Medicines

Your patient may believe that western medicine is too strong and may not take the full dose or complete the course of treatment. Your patient may cut the dose in half or stop taking the medicine whether he/she feels better or not. - Explain that the dose is customized for your patient’s height, weight and metabolic needs. Describe the need to take the full dose whether your patient feels better right away or not. Talk about side effects. Share your plan in dealing with side effects. Ask open-ended questions to ensure understanding. - Alert: Be aware that your patient may have enzyme deficiencies that may require a change in medication or dosage. Contact the pharmacy if the patient does not appear to be responding to medications or if he/she appears to be especially sensitive to medications' effects.

Some accomodation done for culturally sensitive care

  Understanding Relationships • The Chinese culture emphasizes loyalty to family and devotion to traditions and puts less emphasis on individual feelings. Assess your patient’s kinship relationships and determine which family members are most influential in decision making. When possible, engage the whole family in discussions that involve decisions and education about care. - Be aware of the importance of family members serving in caregiver roles and consider extending visiting hours. Explain the visitation policy before admission or surgery so that the family knows what to expect.

Thank you.