Chapter 3 Cultural Diversity

1. Chapter 3Cultural Diversity

2. Cultural Diversity • Diverse groups in society • Racial classification and national origin • Religious affiliation • Languages • Physical size, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability • Socioeconomic status, occupational status • Geographic location • Culture

3. Culture • Shared system of beliefs, values, behavioral expectations • Provides social structure for daily living • Defines roles and interactions with others

4. Subculture • Large group of people who are members of a larger cultural group • Have certain ethnic, occupational, or physical characteristics not common to the larger culture

5. Groups in Society • Dominant group (largest group) • Group has the most authority to control values and sanctions • Minority group (smaller group) • A physical or cultural characteristic identifies the people as different

6. Cultural Definitions • Cultural assimilation (acculturation) • Minorities living within a dominant group lose the characteristics that made them different • Culture shock • The feelings a person experiences when placed in a different culture

7. Ethnicity • Sense of identification with a collective cultural group • Largely based on group’s common heritage

8. Race • Typically based on specific characteristics • Skin pigmentation, body stature, facial features, hair texture • Three major races: Caucasian, Negroid, Mongoloid

9. Stereotyping • One assumes that all members of a culture or ethnic group act alike

10. Identifying Prejudices: the First Step to Eliminating Them

11. Cultural Terminology • Cultural imposition • Belief that everyone should conform to the majority belief system • Cultural blindness • Ignores differences and proceeds as if they did not exist

12. Culture Conflict • People become aware of differences and feel threatened • Response: ridiculing beliefs and traditions of others to make themselves feel more secure

13. Ethnocentrism • Belief that one’s ideas, beliefs, and practice are the best or superior

14. Culturally Competent Care • Physiological characteristics • Psychological characteristics • Reactions to pain • Mental health • Gender roles • Language and communication • Orientation to space and time • Food and nutrition • Family support • Socioeconomic factors

15. Culturally Sensitive Nursing Care—Patient in Pain • Recognize each person holds various beliefs about pain • Respect the patient’s right to respond to pain in his own fashion • Never stereotype a patient’s responses to pain based on his culture

16. The Culture of Poverty • Feelings of despair • Day-to-day attitude toward life • Unemployment and need for financial or government aid • Unstable family structure • Decline in self-respect and retreat from community involvement

17. Culturally Competent Nursing Care • Care must be sensitive to needs of individuals, families, or groups from diverse cultures • The healthcare system is a culture with customs, rules, values, and a language of its own • Nursing is the largest subculture of the healthcare system

18. Factors That Affect Culturally Diverse Interactions • Cultural background of each participant • Expectations and beliefs of each person about healthcare • Cultural context of the encounter • Degree of agreement between the sets of beliefs and values of the two persons

19. Guidelines for Providing Culturally Competent Nursing Care • Develop cultural self-awareness • Develop cultural knowledge • Accommodate cultural practices in healthcare • Respect culturally based family roles • Avoid mandating change • Seek cultural assistance

20. Question Which of the following occurs when a minority group, living with a dominant group, begins to blend in and lose the characteristics that made them distinct? A. Cultural imposition B. Cultural conflict C. Cultural assimilation D. Cultural shock

21. Answer Answer: C. Cultural Assimilation Rationale: Cultural assimilation occurs when one’s values are replaced by the values of the dominant culture. Cultural imposition is the belief that everyone should conform to the majority belief system. Cultural conflict occurs when people become aware of cultural differences, feel threatened, and act negatively. Cultural shock refers to the feelings a person experiences when placed in a different culture.

22. Question Tell whether the following statement is true or false. Stereotyping occurs when people ignore differences in the cultures in which they live and proceed as if they do not exist. A. True B. False

23. Answer B. False Cultural blindness occurs when people ignore differences in the cultures in which they live and proceed as if they do not exist.

24. Question Which of the following describes the concept that occurs when a nurse believes that her own ideas, beliefs, and practices are the best or superior to those of her colleagues and patients? A. Cultural diversity B. Culture shock C. Stereotyping D. Ethnocentrism

25. Answer Answer: D. Ethnocentrism Rationale: Ethnocentrism is the belief that one’s ideas, beliefs and practices are superior or preferred to those of others. Cultural diversity refers to the existence of diverse groups in society with varying cultural characteristics. Culture shock describes the feelings a person experiences when placed in a different culture. Stereotyping is the practice of assuming that all members of cultural group act alike.

26. Question Tell whether the following statement is true or false. The healthcare system is a culture of its own with nursing being its largest subculture. A. True B. False

27. Answer A. True. The healthcare system is a culture of its own with nursing being its largest subculture.

28. Question Tell whether the following statement is true or false. Culture includes the beliefs, habits, likes and dislikes, and customs and rituals learned from one’s family. A. True B. False

29. Answer A. True. Culture includes the beliefs, habits, likes and dislikes, and customs and rituals learned from one’s family.