NURS 6512 Diversity and Health Assessments Essay

NURS 6512 Diversity and Health Assessments Essay

NURS 6512 Diversity and Health Assessments Essay

 

Culture and socioeconomic factors influence the health outcomes for patients. Therefore, understanding the specific needs of the patients helps in developing appropriate intervention measures that guarantee better outcomes (Hu et al., 2019). In this case, JC is an at-risk 86-year-old Asian male who is financially and physically dependent on the daughter. The patient presents with hypertension, gastroesophageal reflux disease, chronic prostatitis, and b12 deficiency.  

Socioeconomic, Spiritual, Lifestyle, and Other Cultural Factors Associated with the Patient 

The patient is lonely considering that she depends on her daughter who is a single mother and has no time or money for the father’s health needs. In addition, the patient does not get spiritual support. Considering his age and physical instability, he cannot attend religious activities (Lee, 2017). The patient feels that he is already a burden to his daughter and feels sorry about it as evident in his conversation during his visit to the clinic. The reduced mobility and lack of social and spiritual support expose the patient to a sedentary lifestyle. Also, poor dietary intake could impact his health outcomes. Furthermore, understanding the Asian culture is necessary to interact appropriately with the patient.  

Issues That You Would Need to Be Sensitive to When Interacting with the Patient 

In interacting with the patient, one must be sensitive to avoid the possibility of conflict arising (Ball et al., 2019). In this case, it will be necessary to ask the patient whether he will be comfortable using the prescribed medications over the traditional medications (Xin et al., 2020). Besides, it is important to understand the additional medications that the client could be taking to avoid adverse medication interactions. The patient is physically inactive and this means that he may not engage appropriately in the activities of daily living. Therefore, asking the patient about his ability to bathe and feed will be important.  

The targeted questions to ask will include:

NURS 6512 Diversity and Health Assessments Essay
NURS 6512 Diversity and Health Assessments Essay
  • Do you have health insurance? 
  • How often do you check your blood pressure? 
  • How many meals do you take in a day? 
  • Do you always take medications as prescribed? 
  • Do you think your daughters offer you enough support? 

The assessment aims at identifying the underlying factors that could affect the patient’s illnesses. The human healing processes depend on other factors such as spiritual and socioeconomic needs. In this case, the patient is lonely and requires enough social support.  

 

NURS 6512 Diversity and Health Assessments Essay References 

Ball, J., Dains, J., Flynn, J., Solomon, B., Stewart, R. (2019). Seidel’s guide to physical examination: An interprofessional approach (9th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Mosby. 

Hu, Y., Jiao, M., & Li, F. (2019). Effectiveness of spiritual care training to enhance spiritual health and spiritual care competency among oncology nurses. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.2.16979/v2 

Lee, R., Eun-Kyoung, O. (2017). Faith, spirituality, and values among Asian-American older adults: An exploratory factor analysis of the multidimensional measures of religion and spirituality. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 19 (8), 920–931.    doi:10.1080/13674676.2017.1290593 

Xin, B., Mu, S., Tan, T., Yeung, A., Gu, D., Feng, Q. (2020).  Belief in and use of traditional Chinese medicine in Shanghai older adults: A cross-sectional study. BMC Complement Medicine and Therapies 20 (128). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-020-02910-x. https://bmccomplementmedtherapies.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12906-020-  02910-x 

May 2012, Alice Randall wrote an article for The New York Times on the cultural factors that encouraged black women to maintain a weight above what is considered healthy. Randall explained—from her observations and her personal experience as a black woman—that many African-American communities and cultures consider women who are overweight to be more beautiful and desirable than women at a healthier weight. As she put it, “Many black women are fat because we want to be” (Randall, 2012).

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Randall’s statements sparked a great deal of controversy and debate; however, they emphasize an underlying reality in the healthcare field: different populations, cultures, and groups have diverse beliefs and practices that impact their health. Nurses and healthcare

professionals should be aware of this reality and adapt their health assessment techniques and recommendations to accommodate diversity.

In this Discussion, you will consider different socioeconomic, spiritual, lifestyle, and other cultural factors that should be taken into considerations when building a health history for patients with diverse backgrounds. Your Instructor will assign a case study to you for this Discussion.

To prepare:

  • Reflect on your experiences as a nurse and on the information provided in this week’s Learning Resources on diversity issues in health assessments.
  • By Day 1 of this week, you will be assigned a case study by your Instructor. Note: Please see the “Course Announcements” section of the classroom for your case study assignment.
  • Reflect on the specific socioeconomic, spiritual, lifestyle, and other cultural factors related to the health of the patient assigned to you.
  • Consider how you would build a health history for the patient. What questions would you ask, and how would you frame them to be sensitive to the patient’s background, lifestyle, and culture? Develop five targeted questions you would ask the patient to build his or her health history and to assess his or her health risks.
  • Think about the challenges associated with communicating with patients from a variety of specific populations. What strategies can you as a nurse employ to be sensitive to different cultural factors while gathering the pertinent information?

By Day 3 of Week 2

Post an explanation of the specific socioeconomic, spiritual, lifestyle, and other cultural factors associated with the patient you were assigned. Explain the issues that you would need to be sensitive to when interacting with the patient, and why. Provide at least five targeted questions you would ask the patient to build his or her health history and to assess his or her health risks.

Diversity and Health Assessments

Caring for patients from diverse backgrounds can be challenging for nurses and other healthcare providers. Patients have unique values, beliefs, and needs that should be considered in the decision-making processes. Nurses and other healthcare providers should be competent in implementing patient-centered interventions that optimize outcomes. Therefore, the purpose of this research paper is to explore the factors associated with the assigned patient, sensitive issues to focus on when interacting with the patient, and targeted questions to build his health history.

Socioeconomic, Spiritual, Lifestyle, and Other Cultural Factors Associated With The Patient

The assigned case study is case study 2. The case study is about Shawn Billings, a 28-year-old African American patient who has come to the clinic with complaints of migraine. Several factors are associated with Shawn’s health. One of them is socioeconomic status. Socioeconomic status influences the access to and affordability of the needed care services. People from ethnic minority backgrounds such as African Americans often experience challenges in accessing the care they need because of their socioeconomic status (Buse et al., 2021). This also applies to Shawn since his socioeconomic status, including income and employment status may affect his access to the care he needs for his health problem.

Lifestyle factors also affect Shawn’s health. Factors such as stress, alcohol abuse, altered sleep patterns, use of specific medications such as nitroglycerin, and food additives predispose patients to migraine headaches. Information on Shawn’s lifestyle should be obtained to guide the determination of his risk factors for developing migraine (Hammond et al., 2019). Culture also influences Shawn’s health. Evidence has consistently shown the existence of ethnic disparities in pain management for different conditions, including migraine headache. For example, African Americans have been found to be least likely to utilize healthcare services for migraine headache as compared to Caucasians. In addition, African Americans tend to have less trust in the medical care providers and less positive towards the appropriateness of the care given(Fuensalida-Novo et al., 2020; Langenbahn et al., 2021). Lack of trust towards the healthcare services and providers could explain Shawn’s agitation during the visit to the clinic for his migraine.

I would need to be sensitive on some issues when interacting with Shawn. One of them is current or any history of substance use and abuse. The use and abuse of substances such as alcohol is a risk factor for migraine headaches. Obtaining such information in the presence of Shawn’s father may result in the violation of his right to privacy and confidentiality. The other sensitive information is Shawn’s sexual life. Migraine headache is associated with risk factors such as intense sexual activity. Seeking such information can be uncomfortable to the patient in his father’s presence. The nurse should provide environment that assures privacy and confidentiality before seeking this information.

Targeted Questions

Targeted questions will guide in the development of the client’s accurate diagnosis of his health problem. The targeted questions that I would ask include the following:

  1. What factors precipitate the development of migraine headache?
  2. Do you currently use or have any history of drug use and abuse?
  3. What factors relieve the migraine headaches?
  4. What has been your experience with healthcare providers and healthcare services?
  5. Do you experience any challenges in accessing the healthcare services that you need?

Conclusion

Socioeconomic, lifestyle, and cultural factors influence Shawn’s health. The nurse should explore the effect of these factors in developing the client’s care plan. I will be sensitive in seeking some information from the patient. Targeted questions should be asked to build the patient’s health history to understand his health risks.

References

Buse, D. C., Armand, C. E., Charleston IV, L., Reed, M. L., Fanning, K. M., Adams, A. M., & Lipton, R. B. (2021). Barriers to care in episodic and chronic migraine: Results from the Chronic Migraine Epidemiology and Outcomes Study. Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain, 61(4), 628–641. https://doi.org/10.1111/head.14103

Fuensalida-Novo, S., Jiménez-Antona, C., Benito-González, E., Cigarán-Méndez, M., Parás-Bravo, P., & Fernández-De-Las-Peñas, C. (2020). Current perspectives on sex differences in tension-type headache. Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, 20(7), 659–666. https://doi.org/10.1080/14737175.2020.1780121

Hammond, N. G., Orr, S. L., & Colman, I. (2019). Early Life Stress in Adolescent Migraine and the Mediational Influence of Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety in a Canadian Cohort. Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain, 59(10), 1687–1699. https://doi.org/10.1111/head.13644

Langenbahn, D., Matsuzawa, Y., Lee, Y. S. C., Fraser, F., Penzien, D. B., Simon, N. M., Lipton, R. B., & Minen, M. T. (2021). Underuse of Behavioral Treatments for Headache: A Narrative Review Examining Societal and Cultural Factors. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 36(10), 3103–3112. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-020-06539-x

Note: For this Discussion, you are required to complete your initial post before you will be able to view and respond to your colleagues’ postings. Begin by clicking on the “Post to Discussion Question” link, and then select “Create Thread” to complete your initial post. Remember, once you click on Submit, you cannot delete or edit your own posts, and you cannot post anonymously. Please check your post carefully before clicking on Submit!

Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses.

By Day 6 of Week 2

Respond on or before Day 6 on 2 different days to at least two of your colleagues who were assigned a different patient than you. Critique your colleague’s targeted questions, and explain how the patient might interpret these questions. Explain whether any of the questions would apply to your patient, and why.

You submitted a very thoughtful and thorough approach to this patient’s assessment. There are many factors that needed to be addressed considering the patient’s sexuality, socioeconomic, and mental health state. As you stated creating a safe and secure environment is essential to building trust with the patient to best identify the needs and resources available (Ball et al., 2019). I found it interesting that the patient has an active green card. Using the RESPECT model would allow the patient to feel at ease discussing his cultural beliefs and values (Ball et al., 2019). This allows the provider to connect on a social level even if the provider is not on the same level-Rapport. The patient has multiple issues that need assistance and has been brave enough to come to the clinic, so providing help and empathy creates security and safety in the patient-provider relationship-Empathy. Understanding the patient’s preference for pronouns, as you stated, is important to acknowledge how the patient identifies and shows respect (Ball et al., 2019). Identifying the patient’s barriers are necessary to also discover his support  (Ball et al., 2019). Since the patient is unemployed, it would be beneficial to determine if he has insurance (Schembri & Ghaddar,2017). Referring the patient to a financial counselor would benefit him in discovering resources available to help with medication assistance and regular provider visits (Ball et al., 2019). Understanding the country of origin will help the provider understand if the patient is battling cultural beliefs and values with his decision to transition from his natural gender assignment (Young & Guo 2016). This may be a factor contributing to his depression. As you reported, it is important to discover his support system as being a green card holder and transgender patient raises concern for the need for a good support system so the patient does not feel alone (Pankaew & Nuchanad, 2022). Depression is ranked high in the transgender population, therefore finding appropriate resources for counseling and medications is essential for the holistic health of the patient (Pankaew & Nuchanad, 2022). With the prescribing of gender-altering hormones, anxiety and depression are higher among the transgender population (Aldridge, et al., 2022). As the provider, it is important to communicate to the patient that you are a team and working toward the same goal (Ball et al., 2019). Continually assessing if the patient is understanding your communication is key as he is not from this country. Explaining the rationale for questions and treatment is essential to determine mutual goals and understanding (Coleman, 2019). Respecting the patient’s decision is essential for gaining trust (Ball et al., 2019). This is a sensitive subject so the patient needs to feel confident in trusting the provider to disclose inhibitions, lifestyle, and limitations (Ball et al., 2019).

I agree with the open-ended questions, but see the importance of specific questions to target specific needs for medication assistance as having a provider to follow medication administration and socioeconomic factors is essential (Ball et al., 2019).

With the patient’s history of HIV, addressing The Five P’s of Sexual History is essential as the transition completion does not negate safe sex (Ball et al., 2019). The Five P’s include partners, practices, protection of STIs, past history of STIs, and prevention of pregnancy for the patient.

I appreciate your thorough assessment approach and wish you continued success in the program!

Submission and Grading Information

NURS 6512 Diversity and Health Assessments Essay Grading Criteria

To access your rubric:

Week 2 Discussion Rubric

 

Post by Day 3 of Week 2 and Respond by Day 6 of Week 2

To Participate in this Discussion:

Week 2 Discussion

Click here to ORDER an A++ paper from our MASTERS and DOCTORATE WRITERS: NURS 6512 Diversity and Health Assessments Essay

I enjoyed reading your entry. The targeted questions you suggested would help you gather more information about the patient. On a scale of 0-10, 0 being no pain and 10 being the worst pain, how can you rate your headache?  The patients’ pain level can help you understand how critical the pain may be effecting the patient. Depending on the severity of the headache you have to monitor for other healthcare issues he could possibly be facing. The patient would most likely be open to explain how bad the headache is hurting him. Do you smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, or use any recreational drugs? This question is a good question because some of these things aggravate a headache even more and some recreational drugs can enhance a headache. Recreational drugs cause a risk to a patients’ health and may enhance a patients want to self harm. Also there are negative impacts of cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs on the patients’ health. Smoking cigarettes increases the risk for heart disease, stroke, and cancer (Health effects of cigarette smoking, 2021). Do you feel safe at home? How much sleep do you get? Do you feel depressed? Do you feel like hurting yourself? These four questions help the provider understand the patient’s mental health level. The patient safety and mental health is important to address when addressing medical issues. The patients’ frequent flyer status at the hospital may be a indicator of situations sometimes characterized by physical, mental, spiritual, and social deprivation of their home situations (Huang, van der Borght, Leithaus, Flamaing,  and Goderis, 2020). The patient may no be that open to answering these questions because they may seem invasive to him. I would try to make the patient feel comfortable and safe before assessing him. What coping skills/mechanism works for you when you are stressed? The patients coping skills is important to address because the patient is a frequent flyer to the hopital. The patient may be lacking coping skills and may be reluctant to open up about his coping mechanisms. Patients with maladaptive coping mechanisms are more likely to engage in health risk behaviors (Algorani & Gupta, 2022).  What do you do for a living? Although this is a good question, I don’t believe this would help you gather information about the patients chief complaint.

The questions that would apply to my patients is the questions about coping mechanisms, safety, depression, and self harm. My patient is a transgender male that recently came out so his mental health status may be a risk for depression and possible self harm. My patient has also had losses in employment and had to move back home with his parents so his coping skills may be questioned on how he is dealing with the recent transitions in his life. My patient also may face a lot of bias, discrimination, and stigmas with his recent transition to male which could place him in harms way. The question about smoking, alcohol, and drugs would also apply to my patient because he smokes cigarettes and marijuana.

Algorani EB, Gupta V. Coping Mechanisms. [Updated 2022 Apr 28]. In: StatPearls. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK559031/

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, October 29). Health effects of cigarette smoking. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved March 10, 2023, from https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/health_effects/effects_cig_smoking/#health-risks

Huang, M., van der Borght, C., Leithaus, M., Flamaing, J., & Goderis, G. (2020). Patients’ perceptions of frequent hospital admissions: a qualitative interview study with older people above 65 years of age. BMC geriatrics, 20(1), 332. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-020-01748-9Links to an external site.

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The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.

Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.

If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.

I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.

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Important information for writing discussion questions and participation

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Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to

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Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.

I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!

Hi Class,

Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.

Contact me if you have any questions.

Important information on Writing a Discussion Question

  • Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
  • There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
  • Include in-text citations in your response
  • Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
  • Follow APA-7th edition
  • Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor

  • A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
  • Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
  • Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
  • Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
  • Follow APA 7th edition
  • Points will be deducted if the above is not followed
  • Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
  • Here are some helpful links
  • Student paper example
  • Citing Sources
  • The Writing Center is a great resource