Deck 57: Culture and Ethnicity

Question 1

Which statement is true relative to caring for a Hindu patient who is dying?

A) The family will turn his head eastward or to the right.
B) A close kin will stay with the patient to hear his last wishes.
C) Anointing of the sick is a common right of the dying.
D) The family will place a drop of water on the patient's lips.

Answer 1

D
The family of a dying Hindu remains at the bedside to place a drop of the holy water from the River Ganges on the patient's lips immediately after death to help his or her soul to the next life.The family of a critically ill Jewish patient will turn his or her head eastward or to the right side.A dying Hispanic patient will not be left alone,so that a close kin is able to hear the patient's wishes,allowing the soul to leave in peace.Anointing of the sick is a Roman Catholic sacrament.

Question 2

The nurse is caring for a Chinese patient who is reluctant to answer questions about her health background.The nurse asks the patient if she would like her husband present when health questions are asked.The nurse does this knowing that the Chinese culture is a collectivistic and patrilineal culture.What does this mean?

A) Kinship extends to both the father's side and the mother's side of the family.
B) Kinship is limited to the side of the father.
C) Kinship is limited to the side of the mother.
D) The husband becomes part of the wife's clan after marriage.

Answer 2

B
In collectivistic cultures,families are made up of distant blood relatives across three generations and fictive or nonblood kin.Kinship extends to both the father's and the mother's side of the family (bilineal)or is limited to the side of either father (patrilineal)or mother (matrilineal).Patrilineally extended families exist among Chinese and Hindus,where a woman moves into her husband's clan after marriage and minimizes ties with her own parents and siblings.

Question 3

The nurse is caring for a patient of Asian descent who speaks very little English.The nurse is especially concerned and attempts to develop a trusting relationship with the patient.She does this knowing that

A) Cultural assessment needs to be done quickly to provide the best care early.
B) Miscommunication cannot be tolerated in cultural assessment.
C) The goal is to get the patient to conform to American health care norms.
D) Cultural assessment is intrusive in contrast to other types of interviews.

Answer 3

D
In contrast to other types of interviews,cultural assessment is intrusive and time-consuming and requires a trusting relationship between participants.Miscommunication commonly occurs in intercultural interactions as the result of language and communication differences between and among participants,as well as differences in interpreting each other's behaviors.The goal is to generate knowledge about the patient's values,beliefs,and practices about nursing and health care.

Question 4

The nurse is caring for a patient who does not speak English.She decides to use an interpreter to explain procedures and to answer questions that the patient may have.In performing the interview,what should the nurse do?

A) Direct questions to the interpreter to ask the patient.
B) Disregard the age and gender of the interpreter.
C) Direct questions to the patient.
D) Ask the interpreter to ask the patient for clarification at the end.

Question 5

Despite significant improvements in the overall health status of the U.S.population over the past few decades,disparities among ethnic and racial minorities have

A) Decreased as education levels equal those of non-Hispanic whites.
B) Disappeared in relation to non-Hispanic white populations.
C) Remained a serious challenge locally and nationally.
D) Decreased faster than anticipated.

Question 6

When caring for a patient of a different culture,it is important for the nurse to understand that

A) The nurse should protect the patient from family intrusion in her health care decisions.
B) Working within the established family hierarchy produces better outcomes.
C) Women as primary caregivers make independent health decisions.
D) Gender is not a factor when it comes to role expectations.

Question 7

In comparing American culture with Asian cultures,which of the following statements is true?

A) American culture supports collectivism.
B) Asian communication can be ambiguous.
C) American communication patterns downplay autonomy.
D) Asian communication is direct to avoid conflict.

Question 8

The nurse is caring for a member of the Jewish faith who needs to undergo a critical procedure on Saturday.The patient is refusing the procedure because it is scheduled to be done on the Sabbath.The nurse impresses on the patient the urgency of the procedure,stating that delaying the procedure would put his life at risk.The patient continues to refuse.What should the nurse do?

A) Cancel the procedure.
B) Seek permission from the patient to contact the patient's rabbi.
C) Have a family member sign the permit.
D) Have the procedure done against patient wishes.

Question 9

According to the Office of Minority Health (OMH),the thoughts,communications,actions,customs,beliefs,values,and institutions of racial,ethnic,religious,or social groups are known as

A) Culture.
B) Subculture.
C) Ethnicity.
D) Cultural backlash.

Question 10

The nurse is providing diabetic diet teaching to a Hispanic man and his wife.When the nurse is discussing foods that are acceptable,the wife continues to interrupt with statements like,"Oh,he doesn't eat that," or,"All he eats is rice and beans." What should the nurse do?

A) Ask the wife to leave so he/she can focus on teaching the patient.
B) Explain how "rice and beans" are not acceptable foods on a diabetic diet.
C) Provide a diet plan with only food alternatives selected by the patient.
D) Refer the patient and his wife to a dietitian familiar with Spanish food choices.

Question 11

Providing culturally congruent care means providing care that

A) Fits the patient's valued life patterns and set of meanings.
B) Is based on meanings generated by predetermined criteria.
C) Is the same as the values of the professional health care system.
D) Holds one's own way of life as superior to those of others.

Question 12

Care that includes the nurse learning about cultural issues involved in the patient's health care belief system and enable patients and families to achieve meaningful and supportive care is known as

A) Ethnocentrism.
B) Culturally competent care.
C) Cultural imposition.
D) Culturally congruent care.

Question 13

In performing a cultural assessment,knowledge of a patient's country of origin and its history and ecological contexts is known as

A) Ethnohistory.
B) Biocultural history.
C) Social organization.
D) Religious and spiritual beliefs.

Question 14

Compare the following statements.Which are considered predominant in non-Western cultures?

A) Causes of illness are biomedical in nature.
B) Illness is an imbalance between humans and nature.
C) Caring patterns are based in self-care and self-determination.
D) Diagnoses are described as holistic.
E) Treatment of disease can be magico-religious based.

Question 15

Foster (1976)identified two distinct categories of healers cross-culturally.Of the following characteristics,which are congruent with the healing practices of naturalistic practitioners?

A) Illness is impersonal and is due to biological forces.
B) Illness is caused by alterations in the body equilibrium.
C) Sorcerers can cause health and illness.
D) Human relationships should be emphasized.
E) Healing modalities include herbs, massage, and surgery.

Question 16

When asked to describe the differences between ethnicity and race,what should the student nurse explain?

A) Ethnicity refers to a shared identity, whereas race is limited to biological attributes.
B) Ethnicity and race are actually the same and are based in cultural norms.
C) Ethnicity can be understood only through an ethic worldview.
D) Race refers to a shared identity, whereas ethnicity is limited to biological attributes.

Question 17

Leininger (1991)identified three nursing decision and action modes to achieve culturally congruent care.These modes are "cultural care preservation or maintenance," "cultural care accommodation," and "cultural care repatterning." When assessing patients during the admission process,the nurse utilizes

A) These action modes in a distinct order.
B) These action modes individually, one at a time.
C) Only one action mode per patient.
D) All these action modes simultaneously.

Question 18

Eliminating disparities in the health status of people from diverse racial,ethnic,and cultural backgrounds has become one of the two most important priorities of Healthy People 2020 because populations with health disparities have

A) Increased incidence of disease.
B) Lower levels of morbidity.
C) Lower mortality rates.
D) Decreased incidence of disease.

Question 19

The nurse is caring for a Native American who has had recent surgery.In the patient's culture,it is a sign of weakness to complain of pain.In the nurse's culture,people who are having pain ask for pain medicine.The nurse has assumed that the patient has not been having pain and does not need medication because he has not complained of pain.What is the nurse doing?

A) Utilizing cultural imposition by not asking the patient about his pain
B) Striving to provide culturally congruent care by allowing the patient to suffer
C) Operating from an emic worldview of the patient's cultural beliefs
D) Practicing discrimination by not giving the patient pain medicine

Question 20

The nurse is caring for a patient who has emigrated from another country.The patient is in need of abdominal surgery but seems reluctant to sign the surgical permits.What is one tactic that the nurse should use?

A) Determine the family social hierarchy.
B) Encourage the patient to sign the permits.
C) Call the physician so that surgery can be canceled.
D) Impress on the patient that her life is in jeopardy.