Introduction
Members of culture may have dissimilar measures of loyalty based on the main values. Indeed, countries that were culturally intolerant are becoming culturally varied. As such, conflicting perspectives influence the cultural beliefs and ethical values of people since they believe they are right or better. This is attributable to the increased communication, migration and trade. Cultural conflicts can occur when nurses acknowledge the influence of their values on global health. As such, this paper focuses on the cultural concerns attributable to health among Hispanics.
Cultural beliefs related to health in the Hispanic culture |
Health practices (Transcultural Nursing, 2008) |
They should be pampered when unwell because the family shows love and concern. They believe that health is God’s gift and they should always thank him. People who are sick count on family members, especially elders, for reassurance and advice elders propose harmless and simple home therapy. Women are valued and should be protected because the harmony of the family relies on their welfare they may overlook protective health care and may not show up for appointments. They are mostly catholic and birth control methods are unacceptable. They see thinness as a problem therefore; they do not follow any advice that a patient should lose weight because it creates a negative body image. They have a social healer called curandero and people seek help from him for social, bodily and emotional issues. Most of their treatments have elements of catholic and Pentecostal rituals and artefacts. |
Maintaining good health: |
Offering Prayers which involve laying of hands wearing of religious medalsKeeping relics in the homes (Ludwick & Silva, 2000) |
Health practices specific to pregnancy, birthing process and childrearing |
Hispanic women avoid hot food during pregnancy because they believe it can cause the child to be born with spots and rashes. During pregnancy, women should be active to help in the development of a child that is healthy with a better temperament. Women should avoid wearing anything around the neck, clothes that have elastic, and reach for things that are up to void problems with the umbilical cord. Intercourse may be halted during pregnancy since they believe it can harm the baby. Screaming during delivery can impair the baby. They are not supposed to take any pain medicine because it may harm the baby they believe that crawling can help the baby to be in a correct position if it were found to be in a bad position. During labour, the mother may want to dress in bright clothes because they believe the clothes bring babies with better attitudes and intelligenceAttending a woman during delivery is a woman’s job, specifically her mother and midwife.A husband is prevented from seeing his wife and baby until after delivery and has been washed and clothedHispanic women prefer their mothers’ care in times of labour they practice the custom of the lying-in period. Clothes diapers are preferred because they believe disposable plastic diapers are not good for the skin of the baby. After some months of breast-feeding, the mothers have to take minute amounts of beer to give milk to babies take some herbal teas to help calm them if they are colic |
Causes of illness in Hispanic culture |
Hotness or coldness imbalanceDislocation of internal organsMagical or emotional originFrightStomach cramps is caused a ball of food sticking to the wall of the stomach |
Health practices specific to end of life rituals (Sherman, 2008). |
To the Hispanics, home is the preferred place of death they do not focus on life support, especially if it prolongs the suffering of the patient. They believe that fatalism and reliance to God are the central decision making regarding to end-of-life careDeath is often confronted with humorous sarcasm and is viewed as an equalizer. They believe that the dead return to the world of the living |
Physiological variations of the Hispanic that affects treatment or response to treatment |
Hispanic patients require less antidepressant medicines (Sutker & Adams, 2001).They have more detrimental effects at lessened dosages than the whites (Sutker & Adams, 2001). |
Role of nursing in the Hispanic Culture |
Most Hispanics are not aware of nursing services and have false information. They believe God can care for them more than nurses male nurses cannot help their women when giving birth. |
Conclusion
Cultural values are the lasting belief systems, which a society focuses on. The worth of nursing in the country is embedded on the ethics of the American traditions with focus on self-sufficiency and independence. Fundamental aspects of the worth placed on individuality are the attitudes indicating that people have the capability to upgrade themselves. As such, an individual’s rights are vital as compared to society. In most cultural practices, the families and the society make health decisions. Indeed, ethical conflicts occur within cultures when influenced by subcultural values. It is important to educate staff about cultural variations and design systems that will encourage respect and offer care to all people based on their beliefs.
References
Ludwick, R., & Silva, M.C. (2000). Ethics: Nursing Around the World: Cultural Values and Ethical Conflicts. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing Vol. 5, 3
Sherman, W. (2009). Palliative care nursing: quality care to the end of life. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company.
Sutker, B., & Adams, E. (2001). Comprehensive handbook of psychopathology. New York, NY: Gulf Professional Publishing.
Transcultural Nursing. (2008). The Hispanic American Community. Cultural Diversity in Nursing. Web.