Cultural Diversity Issues in Healthcare

Wow! You all continue to amaze me with your strength in writing skills, and your abilities to "think outside of the box"! I am very impressed with what I have been reading, and would love to see each of you practice at the bedside as it seems you have a good handle on the importance of culture, diversity, and cultural diversity! Today we are going to discuss some of the cultural diversity issues in healthcare. According to the University of Iowa (n.d.) there are 7 lessons to learn about with regards to cross-cultural communication they include:

1. Don't assume sameness
2. What you think of as normal behavior may only be cultural
3. Familiar behavior may have different meanings
4. Don't assume that what you meant is what was understood
5. Don't assume that what you understood is what was meant
6. You don't have to like or accept "different" behavior, but you should try to understand where it comes from.
7. Most people do behave rationally; you just have to discover the rationale

I would like for us all to take a brief moment and reflect on our own beliefs, and experiences to review your current stance on your culture awareness, and perhaps how your personal beliefs and experiences may be beneficial or detrimental to your practice. So, to review lets ask ourselves the following questions:

1. When a clienttalks with a strong accent from their native origin do you react adversely? Please explain how you do not, or how you do.
2. Are you respectful of various cultural believes and follow through with the patient requests without passing judgement or do you have a difficult time doing so? If you have a difficult time please share with us why, and perhaps share a personal example.
3. Do you assume you know what a client wants or needs?
4. When you are caring for a client who clearly does not understand English (the primary language of our nation) do you identify the need for additional resources and make the necessary referrals? If yes, please review how you have made the referral and to whom you make the referral. If no, what can you do as a practicing nurse to make these necessary referrals made known to the appropriate individual or hospital department?

I know I have given you a lot to think about today, so just take a few moments to read the posting, reflect, and then begin to answer your questions. I look forward to your responses.


University of Iowa. (n.d.). Cultural diversity issues in healthcare. Retrieved from http://www.uiowa.edu/hr/administration/linguistics/healthcare_diversity.pdf