Vulnerable Population And Self-Awareness

Vulnerable Population and Self-Awareness
As of July 1, 2013 the United States of America had 54 million Hispanics living within its borders. This equates to 17% of the total population (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2014). Many of these individuals do not speak English which creates a language barrier between them and health care workers. This barrier can create biases among health care workers and the Hispanic population. Health care workers may not be able to connect with this population because they cannot understand what they are saying. They may not be able to meet the needs of the individual seeking care. The healthcare worker may also have preconceived notions regarding this population like believing Hispanics may not work, do not
I feel stress when I receive report, and find out my patient does not speak English. Most of these patients are Hispanic, and speak Spanish. I do feel relief when I hear the individual has family that speaks English with them, but this is not always the case. Nurses are taught not to utilize family members for translation purposes, but translators are not always immediately available. The lack of interpreters is a huge problem in America, and is an obstacle for the Hispanic population to overcome when seeking healthcare (Edward & Hines-Martin, 2015). When there is a communication barrier I fear there may be a delay in care, and I will not be able to provide adequate care for this individual because I will not know what they are saying. I could also be violating the patient’s privacy by having a family member translate information for me (Harkness & DeMarco, 2012). I will not know if they need pain medicine or have a new pain that needs assessing. Prior to the Affordable Health Care Act, I automatically assumed this population had no insurance. This caused me to believe that they were receiving free health care, which I ended up paying for with taxes. I was young back then, and believed negative biases of others as my
This will help me to connect with the Hispanic patient population in a positive manner. It will allow me to provide better healthcare, as I will understand their needs and wants. In the meantime, I can continue to use Spanish interpreters to provide assistance. I feel I will still rely on family members to help with translations when it is clinically acceptable in order to provide care until I have a better understanding of the language. Cross-cultural nursing is providing care to anyone from a culture other than my own (Harkness & DeMarco, 2012). I am aware of this difference, and try to learn more about the cultures of the patients I care for. One way I do this is to talk about the traditions, and customs they hold. This allows me to focus on my ethnocentrism, which is my belief that all cultures are similar to mine, and hold the same beliefs and traditions that I do (Harkness & DeMarco, 2012). I become a more culturally caring nurse by opening lines of