Behavioural Foundation Of Nursing Practice - Essay Example

It is in this regard that this essay aims to present what the concept of culture is. Further, this paper would delve into the influence of this concept to perceptions of health and illness in the health care profession. Finally, a determination of the importance of understanding culture when planning nursing care would also be identified. Delaune and Ladner (388) in their book on Fundamentals of Nursing defined culture as “knowledge, beliefs, behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, habits, customs, languages, symbols, rituals, ceremonies, and practices that are unique to a particular group of people”.

Simple folks ordinarily know culture as a way of life. the roles and responsibilities of nursing evolving continuously, a conceptual framework to better understand the effects of cultures on health care was developed by Dr. Madeleine Leininger in her transcultural nursing theory. Dr. Leininger stated (1) every culture has some kind of system for health care that is based on values and behavior of people; and (2) cultures have certain methods for providing health care often unknown to nurses from other cultures.

(Delaune and Ladner 403) In transcultural nursing, Parker and McMillan (par. 1) wrote some reflections on nursing in Australia which stipulated that “in spite of the increasing significance of cultural diversity for nursing, some Australian nurse teachers are not well prepared for the challenges they face, nor have nursing curricula been re-conceptualized to meet the changing needs of society and more specifically nursing students.” This contributed to some practice of noncaring and a lack of hospitality which can be developed and improved with application and knowledge of the concept of multi-diversity in culture and healthcare.

In addition, in book written by Tabbner, et.al. (93), there are challenges faced by nurses in Australia in dealing with culturally diverse patients. Among these challenges are: