Mind Map and Cultural Identity - Essay Example

Running Head: Mind Map and Written Reflection Mind Map and Written Reflection Name Institution Professor Course Date Mind Map Reflection The personal values of an individual are referred to as the attitudes as well as beliefs that are constructed as a result of an individual’s experiences and mostly in their early life’s and this is mainly influenced by aspects that are closer to them or which they have contact to on a daily basis, for example, their friends, ethnicity, family members, their gender as well as their class in the society. Cultural identity is termed as the identity to or feeling that one belongs to a certain group. Thus, it is an individual’s self-perception and self-conception and some of the elements of it include ethnicity, religion, age, family, life experiences, gender, social class and locality or else a kind of social group that tends to have its own diverse culture (Evangelista, 2003). My discussion will focus on four main elements and they will include life experience, gender, ethnicity and family and undertake a discussion on how they impact on and/or may conflict with professional interactions and practice in the health care environment. It is a common believe that cultural identity leads to a more inclusive and supportive professional environment and thus the need to appreciate the different cultural identities between the patients and the caregivers to enhance the delivery of services. My cultural identity of an Indian female from a middle class family has played an essential role in helping to develop and nurture values that guide my life and my profession. These values includes compassion for others, having a sense of community, respect, being goal oriented and be focused in all these aspects has also helped me in my profession by making me a better nurse. I tend to be aware of what the patients are facing and identify better and acknowledge the cultural differences that exists. In the nursing profession, it would be inappropriate to ignore diversity and offer incongruent nursing care since it may have adverse effects on the outcomes of the patients and at times it can also jeopardize the safety of the patients (Jeffreys, 2006). So as to avoid any trail off in the care of patients, it would be imperative to examine and understand carefully and in precise terms cultural identity in others and also in us. Culture is termed as learned and transmitted beliefs, values and practices of a group of people and it tends to guide the thinking, decision making as well as actions in a patterned way (Luininger, 1995). Individual’s even the nurses makes use of the culture as a framework to view the world. The respect and appreciation of cultural values, beliefs and practices assists the nurses in understanding in better way behaviors that are culturally defined. The set of values and beliefs that adopted are greatly influenced by my upbringing in India and also by immigration to Australia to study. By moving to Australia to study, I was disconnected from my immediate and extended family and this in a way played an essential role in expanding and enabling me to have a more defined and broad world view (Fanany & Fanany, 2012). Another value that I developed over my stay in Australia was that of compassion. When I first relocated to Australia my father was not very pleased with the move and this I had to support myself by working. The feeling of disconnection that I felt due to the distance between my nuclear family and I and the coldness I received from my father enabled me to sympathize with other students and people who seemed to be in similar or worse situations than mine. During my early years since I was brought up in a middle class family, we interacted with our neighbors and some of them had different cultural values which helped me to embrace and take note of diversity that exists in the world (James, 2015). Through my stay in Australia as I was studying, I was able to interact with a number of students and people who had different cultures and were from a number of countries all over the world. Another value that I have developed over the years is respect. This value was instilled in me during my early years at home and this was mostly done by my mother since she was a stay at home mum. In India where I spent my early years before moving to Australia, the status of the elders in the family was highly reconstructed due to their age as well as wisdom that they had acquired in their life period. At times, I also made visits to my maternal grandparents and this gave me a time as well as a chance to have utmost respect for the elders and their wide range of experiences. This also helped me in understanding my sentiments and feeling and caring for the elders and this has helped me a lot in solving some problems that I may be faced with in my profession. As stated by McGee, 1994, respect is a fundamental concept in nursing care and lack of respect for the patients can in some instances dehumanize the patients and can also contribute to ill treatment and abuse. Since I work in an area where I have to receive patients from different cultures, I always base my care on the understanding of the aspect of respect. The value of respect has been beneficial to be in my profession since it aids me in having utmost respect for all my colleagues who am working with and also have respect for the patients. All this is aimed at enhancing the services provided to the patients and the creation of good working environments that fosters service delivery (Browne & Varcoe, 2006). Of all the values that I have gained over the years, the value that I uphold most is that of being goal oriented and focused. My history has been an interesting one, with parents trying to do away with some of the values that their families believed in such as arranged marriages and my various interactions during the stay with my parents and during my study in Australia since I have been able to interact with people from different areas of the globe who have totally different cultures from ones that I was raised up in. All this has enabled me not focus on the various differences that exists between people but rather to appreciate them and focus on achieving the goals that I have set to achieve (DeSouza, 2008). In my early life, I depicted this value in the most effective manner when I travelled to study in Australia despite the lack of support from my father and had to work to survive. Though this has changed with tine and my parents are even happy of my achievements and progress. This value which I derived from the experiences in my early years plays an essential role in the care offered to the patients and also in my dealing with other colleagues in my workplace. Through this value I tend to be more willing to help my other colleagues in the departments in the various activities involved so as to enhance service delivery which is usually a major goal that also nurses inspires to achieve. Another aspect that relates to this value of being focused and goal-oriented is offering the best kind of services to the patients irrespective of their gender, race, religion or ethnicity. I tend to analyze the issues facing the patients and find the most appropriate way to address it. For instance, I ensure that patients are healed by not only offering them with medicine but also with advise that tends to be helpful in their day to day life to enhance their healing process (Thomas & Pollio, 2002). Based on the above reflection, it would be crucial to note that the various cultural identity elements and values develop as one grows up play an essential role in their future profession. Since the modern day nursing professionals are expected to work and deal with people from diverse cultures thus having various cultural identity elements that are different from their own, they need to be aware of the differences and embrace them so as to offer the best kind of services. In my professional life as a nurse, I always adhere to the values that I have developed over time such as being goal-oriented, focused, compassion and respectful so as to deal with the patients and issues that are likely to arise in their treatment in the most appropriate and effective manner. These values also plays an essential role in ensuring that I work collaboratively with my colleagues and in the most effective manner with all patients who visit my work location for any kind of medical attention. References Browne, A. J. & Varcoe, C. (2006). ‘Critical Cultural Perspectives and Health Care Involving Aboriginal Peoples', Contemporary Nurse, 22 (2), 155-67. DeSouza, R. (2008). Wellness for all: The possibilities of cultural safety and cultural competence in New Zealand. Journal of Research in Nursing, 13(2), 125-135. Evangelista, M. (2003). “Culture, Identity, and Conflict: The Influence of Gender," in Conflict and Reconstruction in Multiethnic Societies. Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press. Fanany, R., & Fanany, D. (2012). Health as a Social Experience. Melbourne: Palgrave Macmillan. James, P. (2015). Despite the Terrors of Typologies: The Importance of Understanding Categories of Difference and Identity. Interventions: International Journal of Postcolonial Studies 17 (2): 174–195. Jeffreys, M. (2006). Cultural competence in clinical practice. Imprint, 53(2), 36-41. Leininger, M. (1995). Transcultural nursing: Concepts, theories, research, and practice. Blacklick (Columbus), OH: McGraw-Hill College Custom Series. McGee, P. (1994). The concept of Respect in Nursing. Australian Nurses Journal 3(13), 681-4. Thomas, S. & Pollio, H. (2002). Listening to Patients. New York: Springer. Read More