Deck 10: Cultural Uniqueness, Sensitivity, and Competence

Question 1

The nurse sets a goal to avoid stereotyping culturally diverse patients. Which of the following measures will help the nurse attain this goal?

A) Automatically apply all information known about a culture to patients of that cultural group.
B) Assume that all individuals from Southeast Asia practice Buddhism.
C) Refer to textbook information about cultural groups to predict individual behavior.
D) Gather information about how the patient believes illness can best be treated.

Answer 1

Gather information about how the patient believes illness can best be treated.

Question 2

Data collection suggests that a patient's health beliefs are personalistic. Which statement by the patient would the nurse determine as consistent with personalistic health beliefs?

A) "Please call my physician for me so I can discuss my symptoms."
B) "I would like to wear the amulet that's in my bedside stand."
C) "X-rays will find the cause of my back pain."
D) "I hope the doctor will recommend surgery."

Answer 2

"I would like to wear the amulet that's in my bedside stand."

Question 3

When collecting data, which question provides the best understanding of the patient's culturally determined food patterns and assists with developing a culturally competent care plan?

A) "What effect will hospitalization have on your family?"
B) "What religious practices are important in your life?"
C) "Do you use food to maintain health or treat illness?"
D) "Describe the role of children in your family."

Answer 3

"Do you use food to maintain health or treat illness?"

Question 4

A behavior to avoid when interacting with a person of a different culture is

A) diversity.
B) assimilation.
C) stereotyping.
D) behavior based on nonjudgmental attitudes.

Question 5

A new mother on the OB unit refuses to allow her newborn to wear disposable diapers. She insists on applying cloth diapers without safety pins, because this is how her culture applies diapers. During break, the nurse discusses the patient's strange diapering technique compared with the excellent American method of diapering. Besides violating confidentiality, the nurse is displaying

A) ethnocentrism.
B) stereotyping.
C) unusual behavior during break.
D) lack of adherence to hospital policy on diapering.

Question 6

A Native American patient keeps a small bunch of feathers on the over-the-bed table. They are in the way whenever the nurse serves a tray or sets up equipment for a treatment. A culturally competent action would be to

A) throw them away while the patient is sleeping.
B) move them to a place where they won't be in the way.
C) leave them where the patient wishes to place them.
D) ask why there are a bunch of feathers in a hospital room.

Question 7

Which of the following is an example of the process of socialization?

A) The student nurse assesses the needs of a patient who is a member of another culture.
B) The student nurse learns how to think and act like a nurse.
C) The student nurse uses cultural bias when evaluating the beliefs of a diverse culture.
D) The student nurse demonstrates ethnocentrism related to health-illness beliefs.

Question 8

Which statement regarding cultural diversity can be used as a basis for caregiving?

A) Silence should always be interpreted as an indication of the patient's dissatisfaction with care.
B) Rules regarding the appropriate amount of eye contact vary among cultures.
C) Personal space requirements are similar for all cultures.
D) The germ theory of illness is universally accepted.

Question 9

The nurse who states, "I believe in the uniqueness and value of human beings" is basing care on the philosophy of

A) cultural competence.
B) individual worth.
C) assimilation.
D) cultural diversity.

Question 10

How would a culturally competent care plan differ from a standard care plan?

A) It would contain adaptations that recognize the patient's cultural preferences.
B) It would follow the legal mandates for providing care regardless of culture.
C) It would provide information about nonjudgmental behaviors to use.
D) It would focus on the nurse's values, assumptions, and health beliefs.

Question 11

Which statement by a nurse is an example of nonjudgmental thinking?

A) "Hispanic-American patients live at the poverty level and don't have a chance."
B) "Asian-American patients are unreadable. Nurses don't know what they're feeling."
C) "Native-American patients could benefit from a lesson in assimilation."
D) "Cultural diversity accounts for some African Americans thinking illness is caused by a curse."

Question 12

Patient A has terminal cancer, and Patient B has a bladder infection. They are sharing a hospital room. Neither patient is a member of the majority culture of the area. Patient A is quiet and rarely acknowledges pain. Patient B cries and moans loudly much of the day. What understanding will help the nurse provide culturally sensitive care for both patients?

A) The better educated the person, the less likely the person is to openly express pain.
B) A mentally unstable person is more likely to be noisy about pain sensations.
C) People respond to the sensation of pain in culturally determined ways.
D) People who distrust health care workers tend to be silent about their pain.

Question 13

A student nurse asks, "Does ethnocentrism have any negative consequences?" The most accurate reply is based on the understanding that

A) discrimination is the basis for ethnocentrism and prejudice.
B) ethnocentrism may give rise to prejudice, which may result in discrimination.
C) prejudice has no relationship to ethnocentrism and discrimination.
D) ethnocentrism has only positive consequences associated with ethnic pride.

Question 14

Which statement about culture will help the nurse implement culturally competent care?

A) Each culture measures other cultures using its own ways as the norm.
B) Culture is primarily based on genetic inheritance.
C) Stereotypes about cultures can be accepted as true.
D) Cultural diversity is based entirely on race.

Question 15

Which statement by a health care worker can the nurse identify as a stereotype?

A) "People over 65 are poor drivers."
B) "Assimilation requires adopting part of the dominant culture."
C) "All individuals have common basic daily needs."
D) "Most people perceive themselves as members of the middle class."

Question 16

A patient tells the nurse that she is accustomed to adhering to a strict schedule for meals and sleep. The nurse reports that the patient

A) follows clock time.
B) lives on linear time.
C) is obsessive-compulsive.
D) will complain if medications and treatments are not performed on time.

Question 17

Recently a community has experienced an influx of individuals from Afghanistan. What action should the nurse suggest to modify the agency environment to better accommodate these culturally diverse patients?

A) Provide handouts and patient teaching materials in appropriate languages.
B) Hold meetings in the community to explain the Afghan culture.
C) Provide reference guides about Far Eastern cultures to all nursing staff.
D) Use the cookbook method of learning to accommodate this immigrant group.

Question 18

During a discussion on cultural diversity, a nurse asks for an example of an ethnic group. The most accurate response would be

A) Caucasians.
B) Spanish-speaking.
C) Irish-Americans.
D) homosexuals.

Question 19

Mrs. Lee tells the nurse who asks why she ate so little of the food on her tray that her condition requires "hot" foods, so she ate only the "hot" foods on the tray. The nurse notices that several items the patient left on the tray were served hot, and several of the foods the patient ate were served cold. The nurse should

A) tell the dietary department to make sure Mrs. Lee's foods are hot when served.
B) check Mrs. Lee's menu choices and change choices from cold entrees to hot entrees.
C) tell Mrs. Lee that no hospital food service serves entrees as hot as she may fix at home.
D) ask Mrs. Lee to make a list of foods she believes would help her condition.

Question 20

Which statement by a nurse demonstrates cultural competence?

A) "Without knowledge of cultural diversity, misunderstandings arise between patient and nurse."
B) "Nurses who assume care for persons of different cultures need to assume those beliefs as their own in order to give good care."
C) "Women of most cultures have adopted assertive communication."
D) "Traditional healing practices should not be combined with Western medicine to treat a patient."

Question 21

The process of giving up parts of one's own culture and adopting parts of the culture of the dominant group is called ____________________.

Question 22

Mrs. X is a patient from South Korea. She has never experienced Western medical care. She is hospitalized with hepatitis C. Which measures will lead to successful negotiation of a treatment plan with this culturally diverse patient? (Select all that apply.)

A) Encourage the patient to explain her views about the cause of illness.
B) Explain the biomedical point of view of the health problem.
C) Support beliefs and practices the patient sees as helpful and that do no harm.
D) Realize that it is impossible to prevent a patient's use of harmful health practices.

Question 23

Which statements about emotions and their expression can provide a basis for providing care to culturally diverse patients? (Select all that apply.)

A) In some cultural groups, people do not display emotions openly in public.
B) Emotions are universal, but cues to those emotions vary.
C) Culture provides guidelines for approved ways of responding to pain.
D) Silence has various culturally determined meanings.

Question 24

A patient who uses the biomedical health belief system would be most likely to respond to interventions by a

A) diviner.
B) shaman.
C) herbalist.
D) physician.

Question 25

A nursing instructor is working with a Native-American student nurse. When the student is late for the first clinical day, the instructor states, "I'm not surprised she's late; Native-American students are always late." The instructor's statement is an example of

A) prejudice.
B) stereotyping.
C) ethnocentrism.
D) discrimination.