Application of Transcultural Theory in Nursing Education - Research Paper Example

Application of Transcultural theory in nursing education Application of Transcultural theory in nursing education Section 1: Introduction Nursing theories are generally defined as interrelated concepts that provide a course of action that is both predictive and explanatory in nature. They help to provide an essential framework for thought in which situations can be adequately examined. In addition to this, nursing theories generally provide a basic structure that can be used in communicating with not only other nurses, but also with the other members of a given healthcare team. According to (DeLaune & Ladner, 2010), nursing theories basically assist the entire discipline of nursing in the clarification of beliefs, goals and values in addition to helping to define the contribution that is made by nursing towards the care of patients. Although nursing theories are designed to address a range of concrete and specific phenomena, they however are seen to vary in scope as regard to the relative level of substantive specificity of a given theory as well as the degree of concreteness of its propositions and concepts. Nursing theories can generally be categorized into three basic groups, these include: Grand Nursing Theories which are theories are developed to represent extremely complex and global nursing phenomena. They are developed to provide an overall framework that can effectively be used in the structuring of broad abstract ideas (Lloyd, Hancock & Campbell, 2011, p. 30). The Middle-Range Nursing Theories that are formulated with the aim of addressing more narrowly defined and concrete phenomena as compared to grand nursing theories (Elo, 2013, p. 3) and the Practice Nursing Theories which are narrow in scope and concrete; these theories establish basic nursing care guidelines that can be used to effectively address specific nursing problems (Lloyd, Hancock & Campbell, 2011, pp. 32). It is not possible to choose one level of nursing theories over the others as nursing practice requires the use of multiple theories; these theories cannot by themselves tell nurses exactly what they need to do in the effective solving of clinical situation practice problems. The different levels of theory generally provide different types of utility that can be used in nursing practice and the same burden of expectation cannot be placed on the different levels of nursing theory. In the resolution of nursing practice problems, each level of theory has its own usefulness. Based on the functions of each level of theory, it can be perceived that the usefulness of a given level of nursing theory is really a function of determining exactly which layer of the rather complex nature of nursing one wish to address. In resolving the problem in nursing education, which is inadequate exposure of nursing students to an in-depth knowledge of cultural diversity in school so as to enable them comprehend how best to care for their patients from other cultures, Leininger`s transcultural nursing theory described in this paper, will be utilized. I have had previous experience in the use of nursing theory in the resolution of nursing practice problems; however, as opposed to problems of inadequate exposure of student nurses to cultural diversity in schools, as is the case with this assignment, my previous experience was primarily targeted at the resolution of nursing leadership problems. The paper is divided into four main sections with the first section providing an introduction on nursing theories, the different levels of these theories, and the use of these theories in solving problems of inadequate exposure of nurses to cultural diversity. The second section of the paper describes the actual problem above on which nursing theory strategies need to be applied in the resolution of the problem. The third section details the application of principles and concepts from the transcultural nursing theory in the successful resolution of the problem, and the fourth section of the paper provides a concluding statement that includes new knowledge about the application of nursing theory that has been gained through the writing of this paper. Section 2: Problem description Nursing practice in the current century faces numerous challenges such as a swelling population of older or acutely ill hospitalized patients, increasing healthcare costs as well as the need to stay relevant with rapid advances in the medical knowledge and technology. According to one article, Sheryl, (2011), to deliver culturally competent care, nurses do draw from previous experiences when they come across patients from other cultures other than theirs. As such, majority of nurses fail to deliver a competent healthcare as they lack previous exposure or experience in dealing with patients from other cultural background. In their research, (Melanie & MacNaughton, 2010), the concluded that a large majority of the respondents stated that they drew on previous experience, including the experience with family and friends, and through their training and education, and over half of them also included their travel experience and the information obtained from Internet and news media. In spite of the nurse students expressing their desire for more training, continuing education, and exposure to increasingly diverse cultures, the availability of an integrated system that incorporate their desire in the education system is not yet fully achieved (Elo, 2013). Elo claimed that when his research respondents were asked to tally the cultures in which their patients had come from, their answers were so précised, revealing that these nurses actually never understood culture as something that goes beyond ethnicity to embrace religious groups, social class (like the homeless), and sexual orientation. Section 3: Applying Transcultural nursing theory as a strategy According to Leininger, it is imperative that transcultural nursing be clearly incorporated and taught in graduate and undergraduate programs. The root cause of this argument is the creation of TCN (transcultural nursing theory) and its profound impacts on learning, teaching, and the utilization of evidence-based practice. Presently, the emphasis on cultural competence by the authority, by accrediting bodies in practice and in academia (American Association of Colleges of Nursing; National League of Nursing) are strengthening the call for a formal courses in the nursing programs as well as other health-related fields. In spite of the growing evidence that most of the graduates of nursing programs are not equipped with in terms of the cultural competence needed to care for the more and more diverse U.S. population, there is not even a single standard curricular guideline or a mandate regarding the inclusion of skills, knowledge, and competencies needed. Because of its systematicity and holism, the TCN lends concepts to be applied in nursing education. As the United States is becoming more diverse, the TCN will be utilized more frequently to guide recruitment, engage workforce, and in the retention of the minority and underprivileged nursing students. McFarland, Lewis, and Easley (2006) actually applied the transcultural nursing theory in recruitment, engagement, and the retention phases of OPEN (Opportunities for Professional Education in Nursing) in a 36 months, federally funded project for the students who were culturally diverse and educationally and financially underprivileged. This was consistent with the determinations to create a nursing workforce which mirrors the diversity of the people receiving care and to eradicate disparities in health care besides promoting social justice and globalization. Some few baccalaureate programs do have separate transcultural courses while other programs rely on integration of diversity and promotion of cultural competence within nursing courses. Nursing learners from the diverse cultures require understanding and caring as they traverse academia in their way to completion of a nursing program. The task of making culturally competent nurses is a responsibility of the faculty who should educate themselves on cultural competence so as to be effective and relevant in their teaching and mentoring as well as role modeling. According to Leininger (1995c), as low as 17% of faculties are well prepared in TCN. Around 43% of baccalaureate learners and 20% of master’s learners have had a formal course in TCN. In the project OPEN, about 12 out of the 200 pre-nursing and nursing learners were recruited for qualitative evaluation. Learner-focused care was utilized with Madelain’s three modes of actions. Learners found the interventions much beneficial as they fruitfully went through the nursing program. For instance, in culture care re-patterning, learners were encouraged to make use of financial aid and reduce their working hours, thus increasing their chances of academic success. According to (Lloyd, Hancock & Campbell, 2011), in there nontraditional learner retention and success model, they emphasized the many roles nursing learners play—such as doubling as parent and wage earners—a part from pursuing nursing. The nursing education is loaded with western European values. It has changed gradually to mirror the values of more diverse students. An issue which has not attracted much attention is the real racial bias inside nursing textbooks. Leininger pointed out this racial bias in portrayal of African Americans via a content analysis of the three fundamentals of the nursing textbooks touching on the cultural content, history of nursing, physical assessment and hygiene. However, when working with this racial bias, nontraditional, and diverse learners, Leininger’s theory is highly applicable; the features of these nursing learners are the same to those in the OPEN project. Integrating ideas to encourage cultural competence among the educators and learners will be the contributing factors in learner retention and in formulating a nursing workforce which is more representative of clients being served. Section 4: Conclusion In essence nursing theory is found to be necessary for the continued development and evolution of nursing as a discipline. As much as nursing education need to keep pace with the practice of innovations and other advances in healthcare delivery system, the need to expose nurse students, earlier enough, to transcultural nursing practice in inevitable as far as creating a competent healthcare delivery workforce is concerned. The future nurse will require a set of expanded skill that will comprise both the knowledge of science and skills to deal with patients from diverse background so as to operate in and manage an increasingly diverse patient-care environment. It`s because of the previous researches, that confirmed the hypothesis that nurses actually are drawing heavily from prior experience, that this paper has shown how transcultural nursing theory can be used as a strategy to give the nurses the much needed earlier transcultural nursing exposure. This paper`s findings also advocate that schools of nursing should provide valuable preparation of nurse students to work with diverse populations References DeLaune, S. & Ladner, P. (2010). Fundamentals of Nursing. Cengage Learning. Elo, S. et al. (2013). Developing and testing a middle-range theory of the well-being supportive physical environment of home-dwelling elderly. The Scientific World Journal, 2013. Melanie D. & MacNaughton. (2010), Cultural competence in nursing: Foundation or fallacy?. Nursing Outlook:. Volume 50, Issue 5 , Pages 181-186. Leininger, M. M. (1995c). Teaching transcultural nursing in undergraduate and graduate nursing programs. In M. Leininger (Ed.), Transcultural nursing: Concepts, theories, research, and practice (2nd ed., pp. 605–625). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies. Lloyd, H., Hancock, H. & Campbell, S. (2011). Vital Notes for Nurses : Principles of Care. Chicester : John Wiley & Sons. Sheryl R. (2011). Nurses Descriptions of Caring for Culturally Diverse Clients:. Clinical nursing Research. Sage journals. Read More