Providing culturally competent nursing care for Hispanic patients - 1100 Words

Providing culturally competent nursing care for Hispanic patients (Essay Sample) Content: Providing culturally competent nursing care for Hispanic patientsStudent:Professor:Course title:Date:Title: Providing culturally competent nursing care for Hispanic patientsIn this paper, the main points of a nursing journal article focused on the Hispanic /Latino cultural group are provided in brief summary. The new information from this article is applied to a practice situation that actually demonstrates cultural sensitivity in communication. The Hispanic cultural group is selected primarily because Hispanics make up about 16% of the American population and Hispanics today are the fastest-growing minority population in America. Barriers to care have led to significant inequalities in quality of health care for these Hispanic patients. It is worth mentioning that these barriers comprise lack of insurance, language, dissimilar cultural beliefs, and in some instances, illiteracy, mistrust, as well as illegal immigration status (Durham Pollard, 2010). Summary of Artic leDurham, K., Pollard, D. (2010). Experiences of Certified Nurse-Midwives in Providing Culturally Competent Care for Hispanic Women. Southern Online Journal of Nursing Research, 10(1): 1-11According to Durham and Pollard (2010), North Carolinas (NC) Hispanic/Latino population is progressively increasing and it has actually increased by four times since the year 1990. In the year 2008, the population of Hispanics in the state of North Carolina was roughly 640,000 relative to just 76,726 in the year 1990. A growing number of health inequalities have been depicted research studies in the area of womens health for the Latino/Hispanic population, particularly cervical cancer, HIV, as well as late initiation of prenatal care. Nonetheless, Durham and Pollard (2010) noted that there is limited research in relation to the experience that health care providers have in delivering care to Latino women (Durham Pollard, 2010). In their study, the authors of this research-based article aimed at exploring the experiences of Certified Nurse-Midwife (CNM) with delivering health care to Latino women for the purpose of identifying any particular challenges as well as recommendations for addressing this disparity in health (Durham Pollard, 2010). They utilized qualitative research method which comprised semi-structured interviews with 5 Certified Nurse-Midwives. The authors employed critical incident technique in describing the experiences of 5 Certified Nurse-Midwives who were caring for Latino women in the southeastern region of the state of North Carolina. In their findings, Durham and Pollard (2010) learned that Certified Nurse-Midwives encounter a lot of impediments when delivering health care to Latino women, and language barrier was reported by the research participants as the most common barrier they face. It is worth mentioning that even though the majority of Hispanics who live in America actually speak some English, 60% of Hispanic adults do not speak English at home ; they speak Spanish. Within a medical clinic, or hospital setting, in which medical terminology could be difficult and whereby communication usually occurs rapidly and amidst increased emotions, this language barrier could really be tricky (Durham Pollard, 2010). In comparison to blacks and whites, Hispanics in general report feeling less listened to and less understood by their physician. They are also less able themselves to understand their physicians, and they are two times as likely to leave the office of a doctor with unasked questions. In addition, Latinos are far more likely compared to whites to feel that they are treated in an unfair way by the medical system or by health care providers (Durham Pollard, 2010).The other common hindrance is a lack of more time required for language interpretation. Some nurses report that they really require more time since they do not speak the Spanish language. The third most common obstacle include things which hinder the Hispanics wome n access to health care, for instance undocumented citizenship, lack of insurance, as well as transportation. In addition, getting lost in translation whilst using an interpreter is also a major barrier. The Certified Nurse-Midwives reported that they at times feel that they lose something in translation, and they are not always certain that the information they are asking is getting interpreted correctly to the patient (Durham Pollard, 2010).The resources that could be utilized to help in overcoming this impediment basically include availability of health care providers who can speak Spanish, as well as the use of language lines. It is imperative to have care providers who can speak the Spanish language in a fluent manner. To overcome the impediments, family members can also be used for translation as well as interpretation. For instance, the husbands of these Spanish women could be used since they are inclined to know the English language much better (Durham Pollard, 2010). Durh am and Pollard (2010) pointed out that the implications of their study draw attention to the growing need for womens care providers to integrate strategies to deliver culturally competent care to women of Latino origin. The participants also stated that the male partners or husbands of the Hispanic patients sometimes take over the conversation between their wife and the caregiver. Application to PracticeDurham and Pollard (2010) stated that the impediments to language between the caregiver and the patient are the most common obstacle to providing Latino women the proper care that they actually deserve. Even though it would be perfect for Latino patients to have a health care provider that can speak Spanish, this is impractical. This brings in the need for Certified Nurse-Midwives to be aware of the communication impediments and to initiate the utilization of an interpreter whenever required. The inte...