Cultural Competence in Nursing - Research Paper Example

? Cultural competence in nursing Question My cultural ancestry My cultural ancestry country is Cuba, alternatively, my cultural country is also referred to as Republic of Cuba.Cuba,is an island that is located almost ninety miles south east of Florida keys. The country total area is estimated to be almost 111,000 square kilometers. Thirty percent of Cuba is hilly and mountainous. The country has three national symbols that represent the country’s national identity since the struggles of independence (Kapcia, 2005). The first national identity is the national anthem. National anthem was composed at the start of the country’s first war of independence in 1868.Its symbolizes a call to arms that evokes the image of the country’s poor peasants in Bayamo. The second national symbol is the country’s flag. The white stars on it represent Masonic lodges in which the fight against its enemy, Spain was organized (Kapcia, 2005). Lastly the country third national symbol is flag of the 26th July movement. This flag is used as a symbol to remember and honor Castro’s attack on the army barracks. It serves as a symbol of the country resistance from dictatorship of imperialism of the U.S. Question 2 Willingness of Cubans to share their thoughts, feelings, and ideas Cubans are very friendly and open in their communication. They normally share their problems, ideas, thoughts, concerns, and also many details relating to their personal life with other co workers (Herrera, 2011). Cubans tend to regularly share their thoughts and ideas with other Cubans. They are mainly spotted standing closer to each other in public places as the converse and share their thought with their friends. Cubans take it as a taboo to discuss about their country’s government, political or social situation whenever they are talking to a stranger whom they don’t have a close relationship with (Herrera, 2011). This is because the socialism form of governance in the country is not a democratic system thus people are afraid to be labeled as enemies of government, thus they avoid any political, government, and social discussion with strangers and government officials. Question 3 Practice and meaning of touch in Cuban culture Cubans highly embrace the power of touch in their daily lives. Touching is considered as a sign to show affection to your friends and close relatives (Kapcia, 2005). Touching your friends and relatives does not indicate any sign of sexual attraction to the other person, thus it is culturally accepted. Both men and women, ensure there is fair amount of touch amongst themselves during conversations periods.Usually,whenever men are greeting one another, they shake hand, and even to some extent close friends engage in giving each other a firm hug, which may be followed by a few slaps on the back. This is a sign of appreciation and showing friendship amongst themselves. Whenever the male is greeting a person of opposite gender, mostly a handshake will do. But to family members and close friends, a light kiss on the cheek is shared (Kapcia, 2005). To women, whenever they are greeting each other, they mainly kiss each other once in the cheek. Question 4 Personal spatial and distancing strategies used by used by Cubans when communicating to their friends and families versus when communicating to strangers In Cuba, when an individual is communicating with a family members, friends, and also co workers, he or she tends to maintain a very short distance. Cubans perceive a distance of more than three feet’s between the communicators as a factor that hinder their communication efficiency (Herrera, 2011). They always step closer to a range of one foot distance to be more comfortable as they speak to their friends and relatives. However, whenever they are speaking to strangers, Cubans always tend to maintain a distance. This clearly shows that Cubans always prefer standing close to one another whenever they are talking to a person they know well as opposed to talking to a stranger, when they keep a far distance. Question 5 Cuban culture use of eye contact When carrying a conversation, Cubans tend to favor direct eye contact. To them, when a friend is giving out his or her idea, maintaining a direct eye contact shows a sign of interest and respect to what the friend is saying (Herrera, 2011). The country culture tend to favor direct eye contact over indirect. Though when talking to strangers and older people than them, individuals do not maintain direct eye contact throughout, refusing any kind of eye contact made by either an older person or stranger is considered as a sign of dishonesty. Question 6 a. Meaning of gesture and facial expression in Cuban culture Gestures and non verbal communications techniques means a lot whenever it comes to communication in Cuba. Whenever Cubans are talking, they don’t mainly emphasis on what is being said, but focus more on the other person’s use of gesture and expression (Brumfield, Carpenter & Sloan, 2007). For example, to them, when someone you are talking to scrunch his or her nose, he or she implies to be asking “what?” In many instances, in Cuban schools, Cubans students will nod their head to show the teacher that they have understood what he or she has just explained (Brumfield, Carpenter & Sloan, 2007). To Cubans, when someone wrinkles his nose is like asking the other person; “what did you just say”. Whenever they point to the other person’s forearm with their index finger, they are just implying that they are referring to the person of the same color. b. How do Cubans display their emotions Mainly, Cubans display their emotions in a very open manner. The behavior of Cubans to show their affections to each other even in public is culturally accepted (Brumfield, Carpenter & Sloan, 2007). Showing your love and affection to family friends and relatives is a very common thing that majority expect each Cuban to do. To some extent, Cubans express their anger against their family members and close acquaintances though it is considered as a negative public behavior. Question 7 Acceptable ways of standing and greeting people according to Cuban culture Culturally, people are allowed to stand near to each other as they share greetings. Cubans culture mostly, considers hugging, hand shaking and cheek kissing as standard form of greetings amongst family relatives and close acquaintances (Kapcia, 2005). Question 8 Prevailing temporal relation of Cuban culture The Cuban culture allows some individuals to seek medical attention in health centers where the government has distributed health services and deployed specialist who treat quite a number of illnesses. In the same communities also, there are people who through their culture seek alternative methods of treatment like traditional methods of healings. Culture also allows people to seek spiritual aid to cure their physical illnees.The country’s culture also allow government to invest in biotechnological research and biomedical sciences in its attempt to achieve future modernized health services (Kapcia, 2005). By the dynamism of this country’s culture we can conclude that, Cuban culture shows signs of past, present and also future orientation. Question 9 Impact of Cuban culture on health care Cuban culture is mainly committed to ensuring equality and existence of an egalitarian society. In an attempt to ensure the culture is observed, the government has incorporated women into professional occupation, and as a result, almost 50% of the country’s doctors are women (Kapcia, 2005). This aspect of Cuban culture to recognize the importance of women in professional occupations has greatly helped the country to achieve great success in their health care services. It’s through this that the country day care centers and other health care services have been established to deprive women the burden of constant child care. The aspect of Cuban culture allowing women in nursing careers has also given the government an opportunity to positively develop nursing services and centers all over the country. References Brumfield, B., Carpenter, L., & Sloan, L. (2007). Nonverbal Language. Cuba. Retrieved from http://acad.depauw.edu/~mkfinney/teaching/Com227/culturalportfolios/CUBA/NonVerbal.html Herrera, A. O. (2011). Cuban Artists across the Diaspora. University of texas press. Retrieved from http://www.culturecrossing.net/basics_business_student_details.php?Id=10&CID=53 Kapcia, A. (2005). Havana: The making of Cuban culture. Oxford: Berg. Read More