Medical professionals overlook culture attitudes toward healthcare at their own risk-and the risk of their patients. Cultural differences pose multiple challenges to healthcare professionals, influencing the degree of patient involvement and the outcome of healthcare decisions.
In Further Reflections from Common Ground, certified transcultural nurse Beth Lincoln, MSN, RN, argues for the necessity of culturally sensitive healthcare. She shows how concerned healthcare professionals must understand both their own cultural values and those of their patients.
Lincoln begins by describing the barriers to healthcare and health practices caused by cultural insensitivity, including issues of racism, prejudice, and distrust. From there, she presents thirteen vignettes highlighting the attitudes and values of ethnic and cultural groups as diverse as Hispanic Americans, the Amish, Homeless Youth, Gang culture, Prison culture, Russian American, Irish American, and the Deaf community.
Each chapter also includes exercises designed to reveal the reader's own cultural expectations and to encourage a more diverse, inclusive approach to healthcare.
Of importance to nurses, physicians, social workers, and others working in the many branches of healthcare, Further Reflections from Common Ground helps foster transcultural care that fits the needs and values of the patients, their families, and the greater community.
About the Author: Beth Lincoln, MSN, RN, holds a master's degree in nursing and certification as a Women and Family Nurse Practitioner from the University of California, San Francisco.
Lincoln provides clinical healthcare and professional education to a diverse population, and thus she understands firsthand the need for cultural diversity in healthcare, including the development of methods and systems to help healthcare professionals gain multicultural competence.
Lincoln is a Transcultural Nurse, credentialed by the Transcultural Nursing Society. She currently serves as the society's International president. Lincoln is adjunct faculty and teaches Transcultural Nursing. She is the founder of Celemonde!, a provider of cultural awareness education and consultation to healthcare, scholastic, and business institutions.
