CULTURE

culture
A shared system of values, beliefs, and learned
patterns of behavior.
 (Purnell & Paulanka, 2008) culture is the totality of
socially transmitted behavioral patterns, arts,
beliefs, values, customs, lifeways, and all other
products of human work and thought characteristic
of a population or people that guide their
worldview and decision making
 culture
 Learned, shared, associated with adaptation to
the environment, and is universal.
 refers to knowledge, beliefs, behaviors, ideas,
attitudes, values, habits, customs, languages,
symbols, rituals, ceremonies, and practices that
are unique to a particular group of people.
Characteristics of culture
 CULTURE is learned and taught

 CULTURE is shared

 CULTURE is social in nature

 CULTURE is dynamic, adaptive, and ever-changing

Ways in which nurse can respect clients
with differing lifestyles and culture
 Be aware of own tendency to be ethnocentric

 Besensitive to client’s needs, especially those

expressed nonverbally

 Use
self-awareness to determine the impact of
own beliefs and values
Cultural competence
 Cultural awareness

 Cultural skill
 Cultural knowledge

 Cultural encounters
 Cultural desire
Stages of cultural awareness
Cultural awareness
The process of conducting a self-
examination of one’s own biases
towards other cultures and in-
depth exploration of one’s cultural
professional background
 Cultural skill
The ability to collect relevant
cultural data regarding the client’s
presenting problem as well as
accurately conducting a culturally-
based physical assessment
(Campinha-Bacote, 2011)
Cultural knowledge
The process of seeking and
obtaining a sound educational
foundation concerning the various
world views of different cultures.
Cultural encounters
The process which allows the
healthcare provider to directly
engage in face-to-face cultural
interactions and other types of
encounters with clients from
culturally diverse backgrounds.
 Cultural desrie
Motivation to engage in
intercultural encounters and
acquire cultural competence
Ways to increase knowledge, awareness,
skill in relation to culture
 Visiting local herbal market

 Spending time with friends of another culture

 Use
self-awareness to determine the impact of
own beliefs and values
 What are purposes of
cultural assessment
To learn about beliefs and behaviors
associated with health and illness
 Compare and contrast client’s beliefs and
practices to standard health care
 Toassess client’s health relative to diseases prevalent
in specific cultural group
 To compare the client’s beliefs and practices with
those of other persons from similar cultural
background
 Factors affecting
approach to provider
Negative or positive past health experience?

 Past vs. present vs. future orientation

 “Space in between”

 Educational level, language proficiency

 Verbal and nonverbal communication

 Factors affecting
approach to provider
Hand gestures, body language

 Touch

Eye contact and face positioning

 Silence
Cultural factors affecting
health care
 Culture-based treatment

 Cultural diet and nutrition

 Death rituals
 Pain

 Pregnancy and childbearing

SPIRITUALITY
 RELIGION
 Rituals,
practices, and experiences shared
within a group that involve a search for the
sacred.
 spirituality
 Inherentquality of humans to believe in something
greater than the self and in a faith that affirms life.
 Involvesinterconnectedness between the self,
nature, and others.
 Search for meaning and purpose in life
 Seeksto understand life’s ultimate questions in
relation to the sacred.
Patient’s history questions
about spirituality:
 Do you identify with any organized religion? If so,
what religion?
 If you do not identify with a particular religion, do you have
a belief system that provides comfort and strength?
 Are you an agnostic or an atheist? If so, do you have
any belief system that gives meaning to your life?
 What is the goal
of spiritual assessment?

Detect strength,
potential problems, or
dysfunctions
 Spirituality of
infants
 Dependent on parents
 Incapable of abstract though of spirituality
 Trust vs. mistrust
 Spirituality of
Toddlers & preschoolers
 Learn values by mimicking others
 Participation in family celebrations, religious
ceremonies begin to incorporate to spiritual
development
 Learn values, respect for life
 Spirituality of
School-age children
 Influenceby peers and family
 Younger school age- magical value of religious
rituals
 Older schooler-understand abstractness of faith
 Spirituality of
adolescents
 Searching,trying to form unique identity for
themselves.
 Examines parent’s beliefs in all aspects of life
 May review, critic, rebel, search for alternatives,
embrace values of parents
 Spirituality of
Young adults
 Some have serious religious commitment
 Spiritual awakening
 Pregnancy and birth may have effect on
spiritual growth
 Search to clarify beliefs and values
 Desire to transmit beliefs to new generation
 Spiritual activities
 Prayer
 Meditation
 Yoga
 Tai chi
 Dietary restrictions
 Pilgrimage
 Confessions
 Reflection
 Forgiveness