Deck 3: Culturally Competent Care

Question 1

An 82-year-old Asian American patient tells the nurse that she has lived in the United States for 50 years. The patient speaks English but lives in a predominantly Asian neighborhood. The nurse will need to

A) include a folk healer when planning the patient's care.
B) ask the patient about any special cultural beliefs or practices.
C) involve the patient's oldest son in making health care decisions.
D) avoid making direct eye contact with the patient during care.

Answer 1

ask the patient about any special cultural beliefs or practices.

Question 2

When doing an admission assessment for a patient, the nurse notices that the patient pauses before answering questions about the health history. The most appropriate action by the nurse is to

A) ask the patient why the questions require so much time to answer.
B) stop doing the assessment and return later.
C) give the patient an assessment form listing the questions and a pen.
D) wait for the patient to answer the questions.

Answer 2

wait for the patient to answer the questions.

Question 3

When performing a cultural assessment with a patient of a different culture, the nurse's first action should be to

A) tell the patient what the nurse already knows about the patient's culture.
B) wait until a cultural healer is available to help with the assessment.
C) obtain a list of any cultural remedies that the patient currently uses.
D) ask the patient about any affiliation with a particular cultural group.

Answer 3

ask the patient about any affiliation with a particular cultural group.

Question 4

A new RN graduate is assessing a newly admitted non-English-speaking Chinese patient. The charge nurse should intervene if the new RN's first action is to

A) call for a medical interpreter.
B) palpate the patient's scalp.
C) sit down at the bedside.
D) avoid eye contact with the patient.

Question 5

To determine a patient's cultural practices regarding communication and eye contact, the nurse should

A) ask the patient what silence means when communicating with others.
B) avoid all eye contact unless the patient establishes eye contact with the nurse.
C) observe the behaviors and interactions between the patient and other members of the culture.
D) use eye contact and communication techniques that are most comfortable for the nurse.

Question 6

If an interpreter is not available when a patient speaks a language different from the nurse's language, it is appropriate for the nurse to

A) use specific medical terms in the Latin form.
B) talk slowly so that each word is clearly heard.
C) repeat important words so that the patient recognizes their importance.
D) use gestures to demonstrate what is to be communicated to the patient.

Question 7

The best example of culturally appropriate nursing care when caring for a newly admitted patient is

A) asking permission before touching a patient during the physical assessment.
B) having family members provide most of the patient's personal care.
C) maintaining a personal space of at least 2 feet when assessing the patient.
D) considering the patient's ethnicity as the most important factor in planning care.

Question 8

When planning health care for a community with a large number of recent immigrants from Asia, the most important intervention for the nurse to include is

A) contraceptive teaching.
B) colonoscopy information.
C) tuberculosis screening.
D) pregnancy testing

Question 9

While talking with the nursing supervisor, a staff nurse expresses frustration that a Native American patient always has several family members at the bedside. The most appropriate action by the nursing supervisor is to

A) remind the nurse that this cultural practice is important to the family and the patient.
B) suggest that the nurse ask family members to leave the room during patient care.
C) have the nurse explain to the family that too many visitors will tire the patient.
D) ask about the nurse's personal beliefs about family support during hospitalization.

Question 10

A Hispanic patient complains of abdominal cramping caused by empacho. The nurse's first action should be to

A) ask the patient what treatments are likely to help.
B) give the patient medication to decrease the cramping.
C) offer to contact a curandero(a) to make a visit to the patient.
D) massage the patient's abdomen until the pain is gone.

Question 11

When planning care for a hospitalized patient who uses culturally based treatments, the most appropriate action by the nurse is to

A) discourage the use of culturally based treatments for Western diseases.
B) teach the patient that folk remedies will interfere with Western treatments.
C) ask the patient to discontinue the cultural treatments during hospitalization.
D) coordinate the use of folk treatments with ordered medical therapies.

Question 12

A family member of an elderly Hispanic patient admitted to the hospital tells the nurse that the patient has traditional beliefs about health and illness. The best action by the nurse is to

A) avoid asking any questions unless the patient initiates conversation.
B) ask the patient whether it is important that cultural healers are contacted.
C) obtain further information about the patient's cultural beliefs from the daughter.
D) explain the usual hospital routines for meal times, care, and family visits.