Transcultural Concepts in Nursing Care

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Preface

3. To expand the theoretical basis for using concepts from the natural and behavioral sciences and from the humanities to pro vide culturally competent nursing care. 4. To provide a contemporary approach to transcultural nursing that includes effective cross-cultural communication, team work, and interprofessional collaborative practice. The editors and chapter authors share a com mitment to: ●● Foster the development and maintenance of a disciplinary knowledge base and expertise in culturally competent care that positively impacts nurses’ clinical judgment. ●● Synthesize existing theoretical and research knowledge regarding nursing care of dif ferent ethnic/minority/marginalized and other disenfranchised populations. ●● Identify and describe evidence-based prac tice and best practices in the care of diverse individuals, families, groups, communities, and institutions. ●● Create an interdisciplinary and interprofes sional knowledge base that reflects hetero geneous healthcare practices within various cultural groups. ●● Identify, describe, and examine methods, theories, and frameworks appropriate for developing knowledge that will improve health and nursing care to minority, under served, underrepresented, disenfranchised, and marginalized populations. Recognizing Individual Differences and Acculturation We believe that it is tremendously important to recognize the myriad of health-related values, beliefs, and lifeways that exist within popula tion categories. For example, differences are rarely recognized among people who identify themselves as Hispanic/Latino yet this group includes people from along the United States– Mexico border, Mexican Americans, Puerto

Ricans, Guatemalans, Cubans (such as those living in “little Havana” in Miami), as well as other Central and South American countries. These individuals may share some similarities (e.g., speaking Spanish) but also have distinct cultural differences. It should be noted that people from Spain do not necessarily cultur ally self-identify with individuals from the cul tural groups previously cited; rather, they take pride in being Spanish and speaking Castilian Spanish, the term for the dialects from the northern half of Spain. This brief explanation demonstrates the necessity of cultural assess ment with individual patients and their families; assumptions beyond holding knowledge (basic tenets generally held by members of a cultural group) can result in gross misunderstandings by healthcare professionals and may estrange the patient–nurse relationship.

We would also like to comment briefly on the terms minority and ethnic minorities . These terms are perceived by some to be offensive because they may connote inferiority and marginalization. Although we have used these terms occasionally, we prefer to make reference to a specific culture or subculture whenever possible. We refer to cat egorizations according to race, ethnicity, religion, or a combination, such as ethnoreligion, but we make every effort to avoid using any label in a pejorative manner. We do believe, however, that occasionally the concepts or terms minority or ethnicity are limiting, not only for those to whom the label may apply but also for nursing theory and practice. We believe the concept of culture is richer and has more theoretical usefulness and that diverse cultures is a descriptor of the unique ness and individuality within the breadth and scope of both cultural universality and distinc tiveness. In addition, we believe and espouse that all individuals have cultural attributes while not all are from a minority group or claim a particular ethnicity. Look no further than the familial food traditions and the manner of celebration of a holi day to begin to identify the cultural distinctions of your own family and those of your parents and Copyright © 2023 Wolters Kluwer, Inc. Unauthorized reproduction of the content is prohibited.