Effect of Culture on the Care Needs of Patients

The nurses are the frontline workers who deal with patients from various backgrounds.
These rely on various principles linked to cross-cultural care. Nursing practices impact patient
care because the nurses are required to make decisions on the treatment plans of various patients.
Notably, cross-cultural concepts also impact on what is entered into the electronic health record
of the patient.
Overtime, during my nursing practice, I have engaged with clients from African-
American backgrounds. This group of patients has diverse nationality and racial origins. Their
care plan is unique because they are highly susceptible to various pathogens and certain
environmental conditions may also affect them based on their genetic make-up. Similarly, the
patients’ various needs have an impact on the care plan designed since they are based on cultural
references (Rocque et al., 2017). Most of the African-American clients are bi-lingual and can
engage confidently with the nurses and doctors. Some of them may not be comfortable enough to
utilize some healthcare resources. This means that when engaging an African-American client, I
would utilize my cross-cultural knowledge to understand the different demographics that affect
the population healthcare (Rubenfeld, 2014). This will allow me to develop a greater
understanding of both the patient’s direct and indirect needs. I had an experience with an African-
American patient brought to the emergency section because of an accident. A quick talk with the
family on blood transfusion revealed that they were firm believers of African descent hence
could only allow their kin to receive blood from a patient of the exact origin. None of their blood
groups was compatible, and the available ones in the blood bank were from individuals of
American descent (Jain et al., 2018). I advised them their patient could die due to blood loss if
she did not get a blood transfusion immediately. In consultation with the physician, we

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convinced the family that receiving blood from a white person would not change the genetic
make-up of their patient. After much consideration, they agreed to blood transfusion, and the
patient recovered and was discharged after two weeks. I equally advised the family to support
their patient and provide a suitable environment for recovery (Jain et al., 2018).
I believe that cross-cultural nurses require proper documentation. As such, I documented
the patient’s treatment preferences, drug prescriptions, blood transfusion, and current care
(Bentacourt, Green & Carillo, 2021). I believe that the notes in the electronic medical record will
identify the preferences of the patient based on cultural origin.

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References

Bentacourt, J.R., Green, A.R. & Carillo, J.E. (2021). The patient’s culture and
effective communication. Up-to-Date. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/the-patients-
culture-and-effective-communication.
Jain, J. A., Temming, L. A., D’Alton, M. E., Gyamfi-Bannerman, C., Tuuli, M., Louis, J. M., …
& Riley, L. E. (2018). SMFM Special Report: Putting the “M” back in MFM: Reducing
racial and ethnic disparities in maternal morbidity and mortality: A call to
action. American Journal of Obstetrics And Gynecology, 218(2), B9-B17.
Rocque, G. B., Dionne-Odom, J. N., Huang, C. H. S., Niranjan, S. J., Williams, C. P., Jackson,
B. E., … & Fouad, M. (2017). Implementation and impact of patient lay navigator-led
advance care planning conversations. Journal Of Pain and Symptom Management, 53(4),
682-692.
Rubenfeld, M. G. (2014). Critical Thinking Tactics for Nurses (3rd Edition). Jones & Bartlett
Learning.