Native American
MR, a 23-year-old Native American male comes in to see you because he has been having anxiety and wants something to help him. He has been smoking “pot” and says he drinks to help himself too. He tells you he is afraid that he will not get into heaven if he continues in this lifestyle. He is not taking any prescriptions medications and denies
drug use. He has a positive family history of diabetes, hypertension, and alcoholism.
It is very important for healthcare providers to understand the culture of their patients in history taking and assessment. In the above scenario of a 23-year-old male, it is very important that the nurse practitioner be able to recognize different culture, values and biases in other to create an effective patient center communication (Ball, Dains, Flynn, Solomon, & Stewart, 2019). In other to provide culturally competent care, it is required that healthcare providers be sensitive to the patient’s heritage, sexual orientation, socioeconomic situation, ethnicity and cultural background (Ball et al., 2019). Healthcare professionals should avoid being stereotype base on patient culture but be able to recognize their limitations in knowledge about a patient culture and maintain an open mind on their cultures.
Socioeconomic, Spiritual, Lifestyle, and other cultural factors
According to the scenario presented above, the 23-year-old does not have any socioeconomic factors affecting his health, but he has a spiritual and lifestyle factors that could affect his health. Culture, spirituality, and lifestyle is very important in the treatment of native Americans.
