Essay On African American Culture

Culture is a concept that makes each of us unique, unfortunately, sometimes in the busy lives of a health care provider it can be overlooked. As a nurse, it’s important that we understand the culture of whom we caring for. It is our role and duty to care for a patient as a whole. This includes understanding the patient’s physical, mental, spiritual, and cultural needs. A lack of knowledge in any of these areas could lead to miscommunication and misdiagnosis of the patient; resulting in possible health issues.
The article, “A Culturally Competent Model of Care for African Americans”, explores the African cultural practices that United States health care providers should be aware of. It’s essential that health care providers understand these …show more content…
It’s critical to be aware of these biases to ensure every patient receives the best quality of care. Another key characteristic, is some African Americans tend to be suspicious of healthcare professionals; and may use home remedies to maintain their health and treat their condition themselves. According to this article, some African cultures, wait until it’s absolutely necessary to go to the doctors; this could put them at risk for worsen conditions. As futures nurses, it’s extremely important to be aware of this when caring for an African American patient, as they may have a worsen health condition. Being aware of this, may result in quicker diagnoses and recovery time for the patient. To put this into perspective, imagine an African American patient has been trying to treat their UTI for over a week, however, the symptoms have gotten worse, and now are experiencing lower back pain. Because this patient waited to go to the doctors; they’re at risk for possibly developing a kidney infection. It would be critical for a nurse to gather all this information and ask what home remedies this patient use; resulting in quicker recovery time. Understanding that different cultures may wait different amounts of

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