Cultural Exploration
Introduction
Cultural Exploration
NURS 401 – Professional Development
​
Purpose of Assignment
The purpose of this assignment is to develop in the learner an awareness of the health beliefs and practices of a culture different from their own.
​
Approach to Assignment
My approach to this assignment was first to examine the culture which impacted my clinical environment directly. I was working in a rural community which does not boost a very diverse cultural community. The clinical environment in which I worked at the time of this assignment was a detox unit. Many of the clients had experience being in jail or a prison system which has its own culture. So, I choose the prison culture for my assignment.
​
Reason for Inclusion
The reason for inclusion is because cultural exploration is important to me. I believe the more I understand about others cultures the more I understand myself and how my own culture influences me. By expanding my knowledge of different cultures, I can provide better nursing care. I have been able to adapt my nursing care to meet others cultural needs and norms.
​
Critical Thinking
​
-
Revises actions and goals based on evidence rather than conjecture.
Working in the Boxwood Recovery Center on the detox unit I have provided care for numerous individuals who have either just been released from jail or prison or have spent some period in jail or prison. Once an individual has been exposed to a culture of incarcerations they are changed. My professional care approach to clients who had experienced incarceration was based on conjecture due to my ignorance of the culture. Through this assignment I was able to revise my nursing care actions and base delivery of care on evidence with the knowledge this assignment gave me about prison culture.
Research
​
-
Applies research-based knowledge from nursing as the basis for culturally sensitive practice.
Through this assignment I did extensive research-based prison culture. The information I gleaned changed the delivery of my nursing care to reflect the sensitivities related to culture. I reviewed the size and scope of the prison culture, norms, religion, communication, health, pregnancy, immunization practices, dietary restrictions, environmental factors, and health. The knowledge gained influenced my nursing interactions and changed my clinical approach to this culture.
Culture
​
-
Demonstrates sensitivity to personal and cultural definitions of health, and how these beliefs influence an individual’s reactions to the illness experienced and end of life.
Prior to this assignment I had no clue as to how the prison culture effected the individuals who had experienced it personally. Several of the staff that I worked with in the detox had background experience from working in the prison system. They would remark to me, possibly the way in which a client responded, was due to being incarcerated. I needed to look at how incarceration impacted the culture of individuals through their beliefs and behaviors. This assignment allowed me the opportunity to reflect on how the prison culture had influenced individuals’ beliefs about health, reactions to wellness and end of life issues. After completion of this assignment I was able to transform my nursing care to demonstrate my sensitivity to individual who had experienced incarceration through the new understanding I had gained.
​
-
Integrates knowledge of cultural diversity in performing nursing interventions.
With the knowledge gained from the extensive research and literature review from this assignment I have been able to integrate this new understanding of prison culture into my nursing interventions with sensitivity to cultural norms. Within the prison system individual can be treated like animals, taking away all dignity and respect. I have learned to approach individuals who have experienced incarceration directly, with the upper most respect, and consideration for their personal space. One day in the detox, a client, a young man had fallen asleep in the public area while watching television. He had just come from prison. I was attempting to wake him so he could go into his room to sleep. I called his name several times and he didn’t rouse, so I touch him on the leg. This young man jumped up out of the chair screaming “Don’t you touch me” “Nobody touches me”. He had just come from prison where if a person touches you it can become violent. Another staff member, who had working in jails, can to assist me with getting the young man calmed down. This is one example of how I needed to change my nursing practice when care for individual’s with histories of incarceration. I only touch individual after asking permission. If I needed to wake someone I always had another staff member with me to assist.