Transcultural Nursing in the

Community

Supervisor: Dr. Haqi Ismael Mansoor

Preparation: Muntadher Zaid
 LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• Introduction
• Define and explain the concept of culture.
• Discuss the meaning of cultural diversity
• Describe the meaning and effects of ethnocentrism on
community health nursing practice.
• Identify five characteristics shared by all cultures.
• Importance of Transcultural Nursing
• Discuss transcultural nursing principles in community
health nursing practice.
• Role of the transcultural nurse
 INTRODUCTION
Transcultural Nursing is a specialty with in
Nursing focused on the comparative study and
analysis of different cultures and sub- cultures.
• Various groups are examined with respect to
their caring behaviour, nursing care, health
and illness values, beliefs and patterns of
behaviour.
 THE MEANING OF CULTURE
Culture refers to the beliefs, values, and
behavior that are shared by members of a
society and provide a design or “roadmap” for
living. Culture tells people what is acceptable
or unacceptable in a given situation. Culture
dictates what to do, say, or believe.
• Culture is learned As children grow up, they
learn from their parents and others around
them how to interpret the world.
 Cultural Diversity
Cultural diversity: also called cultural plurality,
means that a variety of cultural patterns
coexist within a designated geographic area.
Cultural diversity occurs not only between
countries or continents, but also within many
countries,
Race :refers to biologically designated groups of people
whose distinguishing features, such as skin color, are
inherited; examples include Asian, Black, and White.
ethnic group: is a collection of people who have
common origins and a shared culture and identity;
they may share a common geographic origin, race,
language, religion, traditions, values, and food
preferences
 Ethnocentrism
ethnocentrism is the belief and feeling that one’s own
culture is best. It reflects our tendency to judge other
people’s beliefs and behavior using values of our own
native culture”
It causes people to believe that their way of doing things is
right and to judge others’ methods as inferior, ignorant,
or irrational. Ethnocentrism blocks effective
communication by creating biases and misconceptions
about human behavior. In turn, this can cause serious
damage to interpersonal relationships and interfere with
the effectiveness of nursing interventions
 CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE
Five characteristics shared by all cultures are
especially pertinent to nursing’sefforts to
improve community health: culture is learned,
it is integrated, it is shared, it is tacit, and it is
dynamic.
 Culture Is Learned
Each person learns about culture through socialization
with the family or significant group, a process called
enculturation. As a child grows up in a given society, he
or she acquires certain attitudes, beliefs, and values
and learns how to behave in ways appropriate to that
group’s definition
Because culture is learned, parts of it can be relearned.
People might change certain cultural elements or adopt
new behaviors or values. Some individuals and groups
are more willing and able than others to try new ways
and thereby influence change.
 Culture Is Integrated
As in any system, all parts of a culture are interrelated and
interdependent. The various components of a culture, such as its
social mores or religious beliefs, perform separate functions but
come into relative harmony with each other to form an operating
and cohesive whole. In other words, to understand culture, single
traits should not be described independently. Each part must be
viewed in terms of its relationship to other parts and to the
whole.

Before nurses attempt to change a person’s or group’s behavior,

they need to ask how that change will affect the people involved
through its influence on other parts of their culture.
 Culture Is Shared
Culture is the product of aggregate behavior, not
individual habit. Certainly, individuals practice
a culture, but customs are phenomena shared
by all members of the group.
Community health nurses may need to focus
on an entire group’s health behavior to affect
individual practices.
 Culture Is Mostly Tacit
Culture provides a guide for human interaction that is
tacit—that is, mostly unexpressed and at the
unconscious level. Members of a cultural group,
without the need for discussion, know how to act and
what to expect from one another. Culture provides an
implicit set of cues for behavior, not a written set of
rules.
community health nurses have a twofold task in
developing cultural sensitivity: not only must we try to
learn clients’ cultures, but we also must try to make our
own culture less tacit and more explicit.
 Culture Is Dynamic
Culture is dynamic because it constantly evolves
and changes over time in response to various
factors such as historical events, technological
advancements, migration, and interactions
with other cultures. New ideas, beliefs,
practices, and values emerge while others may
fade away or undergo transformation.
 Importance of Transcultural Nursing

1.Cultural background affects a person's health

in all its dimensions, so the nurse must
consider the clients' cultural background when
planning care.
2.Provides the necessary resources to cope with
illness, suffering and death.
3.Promote understanding, respect and
appreciation for the individuality and diversity
of patient beliefs.
 .Importance of Transcultural Nursing CON

4.The increased use of health care technology

sometimes conflicts with cultural values of clients.
5.There is an increase in the number of people
travelling and working in many diferent parts of
the world.
6. There has been a rise in multicultural identifies,
with people expecting their cultural belief, values,
and lifeways to be understood and respected by
nurses and other health care providers.
 TRANSCULTURAL COMMUNITY HEALTH
NURSING PRINCIPLES
• Develop Cultural Self-Awareness
Nurses must remember that their culture often is sharply different from
the culture of their clients.
• Cultivate Cultural Sensitivity
recognizing that culturally based values, beliefs, and practices
influence people’s health and lifestyles and need to be considered
in plans for service
• Assess the Client Group’s Culture
There usually is some culturally based reason that causes clients to
engage in (or avoid) certain actions. Instead of making
assumptions or judging clients’ behavior, the nurse first must
learn about the culture that guides that behavior
 TRANSCULTURAL COMMUNITY HEALTH
NURSING PRINCIPLES Con.
• Show Respect and Patience While Learning
About Other Cultures
Attentive listening is a way to show respect and
to learn about a client's culture.
 Role of the nurse
o Provide care that is consistent with cultural
values, beliefs, and practices
o Conduct Transcultural assessment
o Develop culturally competent interventions In
staff on cultural competence
o Include Transcultural nursing teaching in the
program of study/studies
Reference
Community health nursing : promoting and
protecting the public’s health / Judith A.
Allender, Cherie Rector, Kristine D. Warner. —
7th ed