Health Care Support Systems T 18 Dq 12 Comment
Please
I chose to review Japanese culture. Personal space is not of great concern to people within this culture, typically but there may be greater emphasis on and pay attention to non-verbal communication. They may hesitate to ask questions or disagree and may perceive direct eye contact as being disrespectful. They may be embarrassed to discuss health problems, especially with someone of an opposite gender, so as a male nurse I would likely have a female nurse present while assessing a 19 year-old female college student from Japan. This may be especially perturbed that a male is providing care, as females typically care for the sick in Japanese culture. They may also believe that illness is punishment for bad behavior.
To provide culturally competent care, nurses are sensitive to cultural differences and focus on the individual needs and preferences of their patients. Ask patients about their beliefs, and related health care practices to show respect and to learn more.
There are no health care support systems specific to this culture that I was able to find in my community, which highlights the need of cultural sensitivity and cultural competence in acute care settings. I was born in India and my parents have spent a great deal of time with others from India that live in our community. There are still only a handful of families in the area, compared to those of other cultures, so it feels like everyone knows each other fairly well. This may not be so for the local Japanese-American community, or they may network in different ways.
References:
Brunner & Suddarth’s Textbook of Medical-Surgical Nursing, 10th edition, S. Smeltzer and B. Bare, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2003.
Healthcare Chaplaincy. (2013). Handbook of Patients’ Spiritual and Cultural Values for Health Care Professionals. Retrieved fromhttp://www.healthcarechaplaincy.org/userimages/Cultural%20Sensitivity%20handbook%20from%20HealthCare%20Chaplaincy%20%20(3-12%202013).pdf