Cultural and diversity awareness in health assessment

CASE STUDY/SENARIO

Paloma Hernandez, 26-year-old, Spanish speaking patient who presents to the clinic for the last 2 days in a row complaining of abdominal pain that is getting worse. The first visit the staff relied on her younger bilingual daughter to translate. She was treated with Omeprazole and encouraged to take OTC medication. Today she presents with the same problem. Her daughter states it is the same problem but worse today.

To prepare:

• Reflect on your experiences as a nurse and on the information provided in this week’s Learning Resources on diversity issues in health assessments.
• Reflect on the specific socioeconomic, spiritual, lifestyle, and other cultural factors related to the health of the patient assigned to you.
• Consider how you would build a health history for the patient. What questions would you ask, and      how would you frame them to be sensitive to the patient’s background, lifestyle, and culture? Develop five targeted questions you would ask the patient to build his or her health history and to assess his or her health risks.
• Think about the challenges associated with communicating with patients from a variety of specific      populations. What strategies can you as a nurse employ to be sensitive to different cultural factors while gathering the pertinent information?

The question

1. Explain the specific socioeconomic, spiritual, lifestyle, and other cultural factors associated with the patient you were assigned. 

2. Explain the issues that you would need to be sensitive to when interacting with the patient, and why. 

3. Provide at least  Five targeted questions you would ask the patient to build his or her health history and to assess his or her health risks.