The Six Cultural Phenomena That Are Evident in All Cultural Groups

Introduction

Culturally diverse nursing care is a priority in healthcare to ensure all patients have their cultural backgrounds considered and receive respectful and individual care that recognizes their unique characteristics and beliefs (Young & Guo, 2020). All cultural groups are represented by six universal cultural phenomena, which are important for healthcare providers to consider when providing services. They are communication, space, social organization, time, environmental control, and biological variations. This discussion will address those phenomena, the role of cultural competence in delivering nursing care, and their implications for healthcare success.

Communication

Communication does not necessarily mean just a language only; it also expresses several other features like body language, eye contact, and gestures, whose differences are as multiple as the number of nations. Thus, there could be a situation where direct eye contact may be interpreted as impolite, but to other people, it may reflect sincerity and honesty. Besides healthcare knowledge, nurses must also realize those variations to have good relationships with patients from different backgrounds than the ones they are used to. Language and cultural obstacles can strongly impact the level of healthcare services for patients with language barrier issues, such as errors in diagnosis, noncompliance with treatment plans, and, ultimately, patient dissatisfaction (Baumeister et al., 2021). There is the likelihood of using interpreters if the need arises and striving to comprehend what nonverbal clues are indicative of forms the main part of culturally competent therapies.

Space

One of the aspects unique to intercultural communication is individual space, like the physical distance people consider acceptable when having conversations close to each other or touch in another culture. Many cultures ignore proximity when communicating, which might be unbearable for other people who highly value the larger personal space (Bull, 2020). Nurses should be aware of these when interacting with patients because discrimination can creep in unknowingly and cause discomfort or disrespect. Recognizing and appreciating the space choices of each patient not only improves the therapeutic relationship but results in better outcomes.

Social Organization

Social Organization is about how a culture is organized, specifically regarding how roles are assigned, responsibilities taken up, and hierarchies within their families and communities. These structures may affect how the decision-making processes within healthcare are carried out. For example, in some cultures, relatives often make health-related decisions on behalf of a person, while in others, people tend to value making decisions independently. Nurses should be aware that these variations exist, and the family has to participate in the care process as long as it is suitable. However, every patient’s culture and society should be treated with dignity.

Time

Patients and healthcare professionals can experience dramatically different perceptions of time, affecting care delivery (Jiang et al., 2022). Some cultures are often more tactical – dealing with immediate needs rather than future outcomes – and others may be more strategic – planning future outcomes and adhering to schedules. It can lead to missed appointments, treatment plan defiance, as well as failure to fulfill expectations in terms of recovery. Nurses should learn the prevalent cultural differences in time orientation and change their treatment plans and communication to meet the patient’s needs and expectations.

Environmental Control

Environmental control indicates how people feel about their environment and the outcome measures, including health. Individuals adopt health-related beliefs and practices based on prevailing views about the causes of illness and suitable treatments, which affect their use of healthcare services. For example, some culture’s traditional methods of caring for the sick may be preferred, but other cultures may differ by placing greater importance on modern medicine. One of the primary tasks of a nurse is the ability to understand and respect these beliefs. This will ensure that the care delivered is in line with a patient’s values, which will, in turn, improve treatment compliance and patient satisfaction.

Biological Variations

Genetic variations among individuals within some cultural groups can bring unique traits in susceptibility to illnesses, medication metabolism, dietary preferences, and health practices. It is important to recognize the different manifestations of diseases, which will allow for efficient decision-making and care tailored to each person (Rath et al., 2024). For instance, knowing genetic predispositions to specific conditions allows doctors to develop more effective screening and preventative practices. Nurses need to be aware of these biological differences and take them into account while doing risk assessment and designing the care plan.

Conclusion

In conclusion, nurses must comprehend the six cultural phenomena to deliver culturally competent care. Cultural competence is about realizing the wide range and variety among people across different cultures with due respect, leading to better communication, fostering relationships of trust, and ultimately, the improvement of results. As the United States of America becomes more and more multicultural, the significance of culturally competent nursing care isn’t something that should be disregarded. Promoting cultural diversity contributes to nursing practices that are equally, respectfully, and successfully implemented in all patients.

References

Baumeister, A., Chakraverty, D., Aldin, A., Seven, Ü. S., Skoetz, N., Kalbe, E., & Woopen, C. (2021). “The system has to be health literate, too”-perspectives among healthcare professionals on health literacy in transcultural treatment settings. BMC Health Services Research, 21, 1-16.

Bull, M. (2020). Thinking about sound, proximity, and distance in western experience: The case of Odysseus’s Walkman. In Hearing Cultures (pp. 173-190). Routledge.

Jiang, Y., Sun, P., Chen, Z., Guo, J., Wang, S., Liu, F., & Li, J. (2022). Patients’ and healthcare providers’ perceptions and experiences of telehealth use and online health information use in chronic disease management for older patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a qualitative study. BMC geriatrics, 22, 1-16.

Rath, K. C., Khang, A., Rath, S. K., Satapathy, N., Satapathy, S. K., & Kar, S. (2024). Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Enabled Technology in Medicine-Advancing Holistic Healthcare Monitoring and Control Systems. In Computer Vision and AI-Integrated IoT Technologies in the Medical Ecosystem (pp. 87-108). CRC Press.

Young, S., & Guo, K. L. (2020). Cultural diversity training: the necessity of cultural competence for health care providers and in nursing practice. The health care manager, 39(2), 100-108.