The most important factor in providing nursing care to clients in a specific ethnic group is:
A. Communication
B. Time orientation
C. Biological variation
D. Environmental control
Correct Answer: A. Communication
The ability to communicate effectively with patients and families is paramount for good patient care. This practice point reviews the importance of communicating effectively in cross-cultural encounters. The LEARN (Listen, Explain, Acknowledge, Recommend, Negotiate) model is a framework for cross-cultural communication that helps build mutual understanding and enhance patient care.
Option B: One way of looking at cultural attitudes to time is in terms of time orientation, a cultural or national preference toward past, present, or future thinking. The time orientation of a culture affects how it values time, and the extent to which it believes it can control time.
Option C: Biological variations in transcultural nursing relate to the genetic difference between cultures that may or may not predispose certain groups to specific diseases. This dimension may also include variations of “pain tolerance and deficiencies and predilections in nutrition” (Albougami, Pounds, & Alotaibi, 2016).
Option D: Environmental control refers to how the patient “perceives society and its internal and external factors, such as beliefs and understandings regarding how illness occurs, how it should be treated, and how health is uplifted and maintained” (Albougami, Pounds, & Alotaibi, 2016).