Immersion Experience
Immersion Experience #3
Cultural Assessment
Saint Petersburg College
Introduction Nurses act as patient/client or “consumer” advocates. To do so, a nurse must at a minimum, listen; to do so well a nurse must do more than listen, a nurse must truly understand. When the client is of a different culture or ethnicity this becomes a challenge, as culturally appropriate or competent care is necessary and there are many differences between cultures. One way to enhance cultural competency is through immersion. Immersion can increase awareness of personal beliefs, values, behaviors, and learning from clients (Maltby, & Abrams, 2009). In this assignment we were to immerse ourselves in the culture we have been studying by spending six or more hours observing group cultural interactions. The purpose was to then synthesize the learning from this experience with that of Immersion Experience One and Two, thereby increasing our awareness and ability to provide culturally competent care.
Description of Group Experiences The subculture I chose to learn about through these immersion experiences is homeless people. I enjoyed two separate experiences in which I had the opportunity to observe, interact and learn from this subculture. The first experience was at Beacon House, preparing and serving a meal to low income and homeless people, and the second was at the St. Petersburg Free Clinic Health Center which functions as an urgent care clinic for adults aged 18–64, many of whom are homeless.
Beacon House Beacon House is a temporary and transitional shelter offering 30 beds to single, homeless men. Per Yolanda Giovannetti, the Director of Beacon House, they served over 35,000 free meals in 2010 and provided over 9,500 nights of shelter to homeless men. Beacon House also functions as a community kitchen, where free dinner is served six nights a week to people in the community that are hungry. You do not have to be staying at Beacon House to receive a free
Cultural Assessment
Saint Petersburg College
Introduction Nurses act as patient/client or “consumer” advocates. To do so, a nurse must at a minimum, listen; to do so well a nurse must do more than listen, a nurse must truly understand. When the client is of a different culture or ethnicity this becomes a challenge, as culturally appropriate or competent care is necessary and there are many differences between cultures. One way to enhance cultural competency is through immersion. Immersion can increase awareness of personal beliefs, values, behaviors, and learning from clients (Maltby, & Abrams, 2009). In this assignment we were to immerse ourselves in the culture we have been studying by spending six or more hours observing group cultural interactions. The purpose was to then synthesize the learning from this experience with that of Immersion Experience One and Two, thereby increasing our awareness and ability to provide culturally competent care.
Description of Group Experiences The subculture I chose to learn about through these immersion experiences is homeless people. I enjoyed two separate experiences in which I had the opportunity to observe, interact and learn from this subculture. The first experience was at Beacon House, preparing and serving a meal to low income and homeless people, and the second was at the St. Petersburg Free Clinic Health Center which functions as an urgent care clinic for adults aged 18–64, many of whom are homeless.
Beacon House Beacon House is a temporary and transitional shelter offering 30 beds to single, homeless men. Per Yolanda Giovannetti, the Director of Beacon House, they served over 35,000 free meals in 2010 and provided over 9,500 nights of shelter to homeless men. Beacon House also functions as a community kitchen, where free dinner is served six nights a week to people in the community that are hungry. You do not have to be staying at Beacon House to receive a free
References: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: National Prevention Information Network. (2010). The homeless. Retrieved from http://www.cdcnpin.org/scripts/population/homeless.asp Eyrich-Garg, K.M., Cacciola, J., Carise, D., McLellan, A.T., & Lynch, K Hwang, S., & Bugeja, A. (2000). Barriers to appropriate diabetes management among homeless people in Toronto. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 163(2), 161-165. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Lin, L. (2007). In Search of Home: From Home to Homeless to Housing. Perm J. 2007 Spring; 11(2): 70–73. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3057742/ | | | Lee, T., Hanlon, J., Ben-David, J., Booth, G., Cantor, W., Connelly, P., & Hwang, S. (2005). Risk factors for cardiovascular disease in homeless adults. Circulation 111(20), 2629-2635. Maltby, H., & Abrams, S. (2009). Seeing with new eyes: the meaning of an immersion experience in Bangladesh for undergraduate senior nursing students. International Journal Of Nursing Education Scholarship, 6(1), doi:10.2202/1548-923X.1858 Murphy, R Rhoades, H., Wenzel, S.L., Golinelli, D., Tucker, J.S., Kennedy D.P., Green, H.D. & Zhou, A. (2011). The social context of homeless men’s substance use. Drug Alcohol Depend, 118(3): 320-325. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Williams, S., & Stickley, T. (2011) Stories from the streets: People’s experiences of homelessness. J Psychiatric Ment Health Nurs, 18(5): 432-439. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.