Nursing

Health practices and remedies Know what the general health traditions are for person and question observations for validity Source: Adapted from Dresser, N. (1996). Multicultural manners. New York: Wiley. Copyright © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Reprinted by permission of John Wiley & Sons. Inc. Place Your Order Here!

Biological variations Food customs Know what can be eaten for certain events, what foods may be eaten together or are forbidden, and what and how utensils are used Place Your Order Here!

Space Body language and distances Know cultural and/or religious customs regarding contact, such as eye and touch, from many perspectives Communication Greetings Know the proper forms of address for people from a given culture and the ways by which people welcome one another Know when touch, such as an embrace or a handshake, is expected

Environmental Control Environmental control is the ability of members of a particular cultural group to plan activities that control nature or direct environmental factors. Included in this concept are the complex systems of traditional health and illness beliefs, the practice of folk medicine, and the use of traditional healers. Figure 2–7 illustrates how a person,

Biological Variations The several ways in which people from one cultural group differ biologically (i.e., physically and genetically) from members of other cultural groups constitute their 38 ■ Chapter 2 biological variations; for example, body build and structure, including specific bone and structural differences between groups, such as the smaller stature of Asians and skin

Communication Communication differences present themselves in many ways, including lan- guage differences, verbal and nonverbal behaviors, and silence. Language dif- ferences are possibly the most important obstacle to providing multicultural health care because they affect all stages of the patient-caregiver relationship. Social Organization The social environment in which people grow up and live plays an

Space Personal space refers to people’s behaviors and attitudes toward the space around themselves. Territoriality is the behavior and attitude people exhibit about an area they have claimed and defend or react emotionally to when others encroach on it. Both personal space and territoriality are influenced by culture, and thus different ethnocultural groups have varying

Time Orientation The viewing of time in the present, past, or future varies among cultural groups. Certain cultures in the United States and Canada tend to be future-oriented. People who are future-oriented are concerned with long-range goals and with health care measures in the present to prevent the occurrence of illness in the future. Others

Employment Estimate (number of employed) Mean Annual Wage (dollars) Management 6,022,860 105,400 Legal occupations 999,650 96,940 Computer and mathematical 3,283,950 77,230 Architecture and engineering 2,305,530 75,550 Health care practitioners and technical occupations 7,346,580 71,280 Registered nurses 2,655,020 67,720 Health care support occupations 3,962,930 26,920 Production occupations 8,236,130 33,770 Source: U.S. Department of Labor Statistics. Washington

Education. Increasing percentages of students have completed high school, from 69% in 1980 to 85.3% in 2009 (http://factfinder. census.gov/servlet/IPTable). “Every child in America deserves a world-class education.” With these words, President Obama signed A Blueprint for Reform: The Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in March, 2010. This blueprint challenges the nation to