When it comes to illness, health, death, and birth, different cultures have quite different beliefs and health practices. Today's healthcare staff face a difficult task in offering patient education, owing to the nation's variety and the obstacles that come from preferences and cultural views. As a result, when educating patients, nurses must treat them as individuals (Singleton & Krause, 2009).
Nurses can overcome the challenge of opposing viewpoints by creating a learning atmosphere based on respect, acceptance, and mutual trust. The nurses should devote enough time to each group and use training approaches that are specific to that individual or group. The objective is to empower the person or group to take part in the education process by appealing to their strength. The interaction with the individuals should result in significant changes in their health behavior.
Health care providers possess a variety of differences which include sex, culture, age socioeconomic and religion. Also, the nursing profession has some practical difference. A successful education is only possible if the nurse can reconcile their differences and act as one unit when working with the community. The personal, cultural differences of the nurses may interfere with the learning process (Singleton & Krause, 2009).
Example
An individual who is a Jehovah witness and speaks the Hispanic language has been experiencing consistent headaches and fainting episodes, but he has been ignoring the symptoms which turn out to be a cancerous growth in the head. During the operation, he loses a lot of blood and requires a blood transfusion. The health care workers will face a hard time convincing the patient’s relatives to take a blood transfusion because of the religion does not support. Also, there is a language barrier, and thus a translator will be needed to educate the patient and relatives (Singleton & Krause, 2009).
References
Singleton, k., & Krause, E. (2009, September 30). Understanding Cultral and Linguistic Barriers to health Literacy. The online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 14(3).
