Introduction
Today, there are many nursing theories that can be applied to clinical practice to solve a nursing or healthcare problem, improve the current state of affairs, and address the needs of clients and employees. High-quality nursing care is the goal that has to be achieved, and if the application of a nursing theory is the way to enhance the health of people, it has to be discussed thoroughly.
Nursing
In the modern world, such factors as globalization, intercultural education, international relations, and migration promote cultural diversity considerably. In such fields as health care and nursing, the role of cultural diversity and care cannot be neglected (Alligood, 2014). Leininger’s theory of transcultural nursing care is a well-known professional approach that is used by many American healthcare workers, as well as the nurses from different parts of the world, to make sure that they provide a diverse population with appropriate care regarding their cultural beliefs and values.
General Statements
In nursing practice, many problems occur when patients have to follow care plans but fail to comprehend all details of medications and activities due to poor knowledge of the language, strong cultural beliefs, and the inability to admit that some prescriptions remain to be unclear. Leininger’s theory is the opportunity for patients and nursing to find out common themes for discussion and the clarification of the points that cannot be identified during the first meeting (Russell, Brunero, & Lamont, 2014).
Summary
The selected theory of transcultural nursing has to be applied to the situations when patients with various cultural backgrounds have to follow such general rules as keeping a diet, avoid fats, and increase physical exercises. The recognition of cultural diversity is integral because various communities have different standards regarding fats or physical exercises. Clarifications and examples should be given to avoid misunderstandings and complications during treatment.
Description of Issue
Issue’ Introduction
Healthcare policy is about developing healthcare plans, treatments, and care around patients and reorganizing decisions regarding current patients’ needs and demands (Klecun, 2016). Nurses have to take responsibility for how patients understand their diagnoses and treatments and if patients and their families comprehend the importance of medications or other prescriptions that should be followed. For example, there is a situation when an African-American woman is asked to watch her diet, reduce the amount of fats, and increase the number of physical experiences.
No certain numbers and standards are given. The result of such dialogue is not always positive because African-Americans is the ethnicity with a specific attitude to food and the place of fat products in their lives. The reduction of fat products could mean for such patients eating not 10 but 5 hamburgers per day, and the effects of such diets can be harmful to patients whose task is to control their hypertension. At the same time, it is wrong to believe that all African-American patients like fat food. This is what Leininger’s theory of transcultural nursing is all about.
Importance of the Issue
The nursing profession should care about the issue under consideration because it is the responsibility of a nurse to clarify the details of treatment and explain the standards that are appropriate regarding the offered diagnosis. Physicians or other doctors should identify a health problem and find out the best and most effective solution. The way of how patients comprehend the instructions depends on nurses’ abilities to communicate, explain, and recognize the differences that may challenge treatment. Therefore, cultural differences should not prevent understanding of medical terms, treatments, diagnoses, or care plans.
Literature Review
In clinical settings, medical staff, as well as students, is engaged in various aspects of cultural competence development and the cases of cultural diversity that exists between patients, nurses, and other employees (Cai, Kunaviktikul, Klunkin, Sripusanapan, & Avant, 2017; Jeffreys, 2015). The global migration of people challenges nurses considerably because of the necessity to deliver health care to various patients whose cultural backgrounds and beliefs are not easy to comprehend and accept (Douglas et al., 2014). Due to constant changes and the inability to predict the outcomes, the topic of cultural diversity in nursing care is frequently discussed in nursing, medical, and management literature. Researchers and academic writers evaluate the worth of cultural diversity (Russell et al., 2014), learn how to implement cultural competence (Douglas et al., 2015), and investigate various aspects of nursing care (Klecun, 2016).
Stakeholders
The scope of the chosen issue is impressive indeed. It may influence a single patient or a whole family, one nurse or the whole medical staff, one physician or the whole hospital. Cultural communication is a complex issue, and stakeholders may vary regarding the situation. There may also be a wide range of opinions, attitudes, and beliefs within the same cultural group, and nurses’ task is not to clarify the reasons for why people choose different positions but make sure that cultural background is not a barrier to health improvement.
According to Leininger’s theory, nursing is a science where it is not enough to develop traditional nurse-patient relations. The development has to be organized beyond these traditions and include communication with a patient, their families, communities, and even total cultures to avoid misunderstandings or wrong interpretations of information.
Application of a Nursing Theory to an Issue
Theory
The value of Leininger’s theory is the possibility to redefine nursing care regarding a deep cultural perception of the world where people have to move, change their locations and minds, and be adapted to new needs and behaviors (Alligood, 2014). There is a sunrise model with the help of which nurses identify their main steps and have to consider technological, religious, philosophical, social, cultural, political, economic, and educational factors to promote a positive outcome of health care. There are many factors for consideration, and the model helps to find out a starting point and move slowly till the last piece of information about a patient and their cultural background is gathered. Only in case all factors are defined, supportive and facilitative care is offered.
Strategy Introduction
In hospitals, it is important to choose a strategy with the help of which empathy and professional communication can be developed between a healthcare provider and a patient (Douglas et al., 2014). The requirement to be followed is the connection of the strategy with Leininger’s theory of transcultural care. It is suggested to rely on a dialogue where a nurse can ask direct questions, and a patient can give clear answers. This strategy is based on fearlessness and competence of nurses to gather information. A nurse should understand that the task is to talk to a patient or their family and evaluate the details that can have an impact on further treatment or stay in a hospital. It is expected to give close attention to patient’s inability to understand what factors can actually matter and what factors may be omitted during assessment and evaluation.
Strategy Use
This strategy can be used by nurses in different situations. It is possible to start a dialogue when a patient arrives at the hospital and asks for help for the first time. In this case, a nurse can ask a patient if there are any family members to be informed, and if there are the details to be familiar with in case of emergency. If a patient cannot talk at the moment of hospital arrival, it is necessary to find other ways to contact their family and gather the necessary information. According to Leininger’s theory and the sunrise model, seven main factors should be identified. As soon as a patient is identified as a representative of another than a hospital’s commonly established culture, the identification of the factors (technology, religion, education, economy, politics, society, and culture) should occur to clarify if some methods of treatment may contradict the cultural preferences and values of a patient (Alligood, 2014).
Strategy Implementation
The implementation of the strategy is the way of how nurses understand the importance of recognition of patient’s cultural needs. It should result in the possibility to bring cultural education to all nursing students. Nurses should learn how to recognize cultural diversities and promote congruent care. It is expected that nurses start respecting all patients and their families and comprehend why one but not another decision is made. Such strategic implementation can lead to a number of positive results, including the improvement of communication skills, enlarged knowledge, compassion, and competence. These qualities are important for nurses. If nurses can use these skills, they can provide patients with guarantees. However, studying nursing and healthcare, it is clear that sometimes, patients may not ask for guarantees but for chances to rely on.
Future Research
Future research can be directed to the number of cultural diversities in different states. In the United States, patients from different parts of the world may address to hospitals for help. Their cultural background varies considerably, and nurses should be prepared for this diversity. The same strategy and a quantitative research method can be used to identify the representatives of which cultures may address to hospitals.
Conclusion
In general, the consideration of nursing practice in terms of the Leininger’s theory context may help students and researchers develop the required portion of analytical and critical thinking skills. Today’s multicultural societies expect that nurses can identify and meet their cultural needs in a short period of time. Unfortunately, not all hospitals hire nurses with deep cultural background knowledge. The application of such theories of Leininger’s transcultural care theory is the solution that can be offered.
The future of healthcare and nursing depends on how well nurses can identify and understand patients’ cultural perceptions and values. Leininger’s transcultural nursing is used to outline the concepts with the help of which effective patient care can be offered. The model and application of this theory show why it is necessary to involve families and communities in taking care of a patient. Nurses cannot know everything for sure.
Self-Reflection
It is not an easy task to apply a nursing theory to a certain issue. However, such issue as a cultural diversity of patient is frequent, and many nurses have already faced it many times. Therefore, it is not difficult to gather as many cases as possible and comprehend the scope of the problem. Multicultural education has been already offered to the students of different schools around the whole world. Multiculturalism in education and nursing is the challenge not all nurses are ready for. Leininger’s theory is a helpful tool the application of which promotes the improvement of health and nursing care and the establishment of new standards that facilitate communication between patients and nurses.
References
Alligood, M.R. (2014). Nursing theorists and their work. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Health Sciences.
Cai, D., Kunaviktikul, W., Klunkin, A., Sripusanapan, A., & Avant, P.K. (2017). Developing a cultural competence inventory for nurses in China. International Nursing Review, 64(2), 205-214.
Douglas, M.K., Rosenkoetter, M., Pacquiao, D.F., Callister, L.C., Hattar-Pollara, M., Lauderdale, J.,… Purnell, L. (2014). Guidelines for implementing culturally competent nursing care. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 25(2), 109-121.
Jeffreys, M.R. (2015). Teaching cultural competence in nursing and health care (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Springer.
Klecun, E. (2016). Transforming healthcare: Policy discourses of IT and patient-centered care. European Journal of Information Systems, 25(1), 64-76.
Russell, R., Brunero, S., & Lamont, S. (2014). Reflecting on transcultural care; culture care theory and mental health nursing. Austin Journal of Nursing & Health Care, 1(2), 4-7.