FSU Cultural Dynamics Within Hispanic Populations Discussion Response – Description
Please respond to discussion below:
Cultural competence and the Nurse Practitioner
As the United States continues to lead the world for the largest number of immigrants per capita with over 50 million, it is imperative that as Nurse
Practitioners we place importance on the need cultural competence which refers to a healthcare provider’s ability to consider cultural factors that affect an
individual’s health and attitudes toward disease and disability (Liu, et al., 2022). New immigrants from Asia and Latin America have added a large measure
of cultural and phenotypic diversity to the American population in recent decades (Perez & Hirshman, 2019), making two of the largest emerging
populations in the US currently Asians and Hispanics.
Asian Americans
The term Asian American covers a vast range of people this includes people having origins in the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent.
For cultural reasons, some Asian-American patients consult their families about health care decisions. Asian families may value group consensus on
healthcare matters much more so than American families do. This can delay important medical decisions because extended family consultation can be time
consuming. However, building trust with Asian families often depends on showing awareness of how important reaching consensus is among people from
many non-American cultures (Harrah, 2018). Asian Americans face cultural and linguistic barriers that may discourage or prevent them from accessing
health care services available to them. The way Asians deal with illness and disease is also very different from the general population. Asian Americans with
limited English proficiency have difficulties in understanding the U.S. health care system and communicating with health care providers (Harrah, 2018).
Many Asian Americans believe that their doctors do not understand their culture and values. They are less likely to rate their care highly and be confident
about their care compared to the overall population. Varying cultural values and beliefs of disease also put constraints on an individual from seeking proper
care. Because of these traditional approaches to health care, Asian Americans may not perceive the value or identify the purpose or necessity in obtaining
care (Harrah, 2018). This behavior contributes to the diagnosis of diseases in the later stages leading to untreatable conditions.
Hispanics
Hispanics also face a variety of barriers to receiving health care services, some of these barriers result from their low socioeconomic status; others are
due to several specific features of the Hispanic population. Specific features of the Hispanic population that affect their access to health care include
degree of acculturation, language, and immigration status. More than two-fifths of Hispanics in the United States are foreign-born, and many are recent
immigrants who retain their cultural beliefs and behaviors regarding health and health care (Escarce & Kapur, 2021). One of the biggest barriers for the
Hispanics is immigration status with a large portion of the community being undocumented and live in constant fear of retaliation or deportation. In
addition, Hispanics’ low incomes and occupational characteristics are associated with low rates of health insurance coverage. Lacking health insurance
makes the costs of health care services prohibitive for many people and is the most important barrier to adequate health care access (Escarce & Kapur,
2021).
Identify the different roles and responsibilities of the nurse.
There are many things a nurse can do to provide effective healthcare to these individual and enhance cultural sensitivity. The nurse can broaden the
patient’s awareness, they should avoid making assumptions and make a concerted effort to build rapport. They should practice active listening, find ways
to overcome language barriers and do their utmost to provide education to these patients.
Please discuss the challenges you anticipate facing when fulfilling the various roles of a nurse practitioner.
Building a nurse-patient relationship with effective communication and trust is the key to improving healthcare quality. Therefore, the ability to accept
patients’ cultures and overcome language barriers should be prioritized urgently. When NPs conduct health assessments during their first encounter with
patients, any failure in considering their cultural diversity, lifestyles, and health perception because of language differences, miscommunication, or cultural
insensitivity will hinder their provision of culturally appropriate healthcare services (Liu et al., 2022).
How would you work to improve your weaknesses?
They only weakness I could foresee would be to not be familiar with the culture, as would be the case for me in dealing with the Asian population. In
which case I would immerse myself in the culture to bridge the gap and be able to establish a trusting relationship. Cultural skills stand for the ability to
leverage tools and resources to develop communication skills, gather information about the subject’s cultural background, and conduct a cultural
assessment accordingly for the purpose of fulfilling the needs arising from the patient’s background (Liu et al., 2022)
Identify your strengths.
My strengths would include my clinical skills, my ability to communicate adequately with my patient and with the Hispanic population, my ability to
empathize and share culture since I too am Hispanic. Cultural sensitivity is the ability to sympathize with, trust, respect, and accept the beliefs and values
of different cases, and to give weight to the patient’s culture and its influence on their health-seeking behavior.
Which patient population is most likely to experience health disparities and why?
Communities of color, populations with a lower socioeconomic status, rural communities, people with cognitive and physical disabilities and individuals
who identify as LGBTQ are often disproportionately exposed to conditions and environments that negatively affect health risks and outcomes and lead to
higher rates of health disparities.
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