Transcultural

Nursing
Across The Life
Span
Ma. Flossie L. Tangpuz
 The Objectives of This Lesson Are:
culture and transcultural nursing
and the concept of culture
be the cultural perspective during childbearing age or pregnancy
─ Cultural perspective on childbirth
─ Cultural perspective about the postpartum period
─ Cultural perspective on breastfeeding

‫ ؛‬Understand the importance of cultures for nurses

‫ ؛‬Define adolescence
‫ ؛‬How the culture influence adulthood
 The Objectives of This Lesson
Are:
Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development

Development tasks

How the different cultures influence lead different outcomes, across different domains

Understand the composition of culture as a population across the United States and Canada

Analyze the impact of selected cultural beliefs and practices on the development of children

Examine the biological and cultural aspects of selected acute or chronic conditions affecting

children
 Culture

The word “culture” was derived from a French term, which in turn drives from a
Latin “colere” which means to tend to the earth and grow or cultivate nature.

Socially transmitted knowledge of values, beliefs, norms, and life ways of a

particular group that guide their thoughts and behavior

The characteristic features of everyday existence ( a way of life ) shared by people

in a place or time.
 Transcultural Nursing

Transcultural nursing’s goal is

A substantive (individualized)
to provide culture-specific and
area of study and practices
universal nursing care
focused on comparative
practices for the health and
cultural care values, beliefs,
well-being of people or to help
and practices of individuals or
them face unfavorable human
groups of similar or different
conditions, illness, or death in
cultures.
culturally meaningful ways.
 The Concept of
Culture
erg of Culture – The explicit and implicit rules of behav
xpectations.

Explicit: Visible components – easily seen

Clothing, Jewelry, Hairstyles, etc.

Invisible components – less observable

Implicit a value belief system that drives visible practices
Cultural Perspective on Childbearing
Period
 Childbearing age is an age when women are normally able to give birth to
children.
Childbearing age usually starts from puberty to menopause.

 Reproduction is valued across cultures because it promotes continuity of

the family and
Community.

 Pregnancy is generally associated with caring practices that symbolize the

significance
of this life transition in women.
Culture and Pregnancy

 Several cultural variations may influence pregnancy such as

alternative lifestyle choices,
nontraditional support systems, cultural beliefs related to prenatal
activity during pregnancy,
foods, taboos, and cravings.

 Few cultural customs related to pregnancy are dangerous and

many are health-promoting.

 However, one dangerous practice is female excision. This cultural

practice occurs in
approximately 28 African countries and affects 100 to 140 million girls
and women.
Cultural Belief Regarding Activity and
Pregnancy

Perspective belief:

 Remain active during pregnancy to aid the baby’s

circulation. ( Indian)
 Keep active during pregnancy to ensure a small baby
and easy delivery. ( Mexican and Cambodian)
 Remain happy to bring the baby joy and good fortune.
( Indian , Mexixan)
 Continue daily bath and frequent shampoos to make
baby clean. ( filipino)
RESTRICTED BELIEF:

 Avoid cold air during pregnancy to prevent physical harm to the fetus
( Mexican, Haitian, Asian)
 Do not reach over your head or the cord will wrap around the baby’s neck .
( African, American, Hispanic, White Asian)
 Do not continue sexual intercourse or harm will come to you and baby
( Vietnamese, Filipino)
 Do not tie knots or braid or allow the Baby’s father to do so because it will
cause difficult labor .( Indian)
 Do not sew ( Pueblo Indian, Asian)
 Transcultural Perspectives In The
Nursing Care Of Children

 Analyze the Differences between children’s health in two distinct populations in

your locality
 1. Describe the income, racial or ethnic, and immigration status differences in
your selected populations of children, as well as any disparities in health or
welfare you note between the two populations.
 What are the disparities you see?
 What might the root causes of these disparities be?
 2. How can nurses develop interventions to change the disparities you have
identified?
Cultural considerations in child-rearing practices: a
transcultural perspective

 To intervene effectively with the parent-child subsystem,

 the nurse must take into consideration the parental figure's belief system and
cultural values.
 These cultural values give parents a sense of direction as well as meaning in their
life.
If nurses fail to respect and incorporate these values into nursing care, their
ability to effectively help these parent-child subsystems is impaired and can limit this
subsystem's progress toward their own culturally defined health state (Leininger, 1978). 
Culture-Universal and Culture-Specific Child
Rearing

 pattern of raising children that is specific to a particular society, subculture,

family, or period in cultural history. 
 vary in such areas as methods of discipline, expression of affection, and degree
of permissiveness.
1. Which activity is vital to the survival of cultural
values and customs?
2. In what situation is especially prevalent in
culturally diverse children being raised in
one-parent families and so should be assessed for?
Child-Rearing Cultural Norms around the World

 American parents
have a strong interest in learning about child development and philosophies about
child rearing, perhaps to ensure that they are more prepared to raise their child to the best
of their ability.
In Brazil, for example, children remain an integral part of their families, even after they
grow up and move out.
Netherlands, time together as a family is actively encouraged.
In Japan and Norway, it is common to see parents that are focused on cultivating
independent children. Whether it is seeing children walking alone at a young age or letting
them ride the subway to school or complete household errands – children are seen more
regularly without parental supervision
Transcultural Perspective in the Nursing Care of Adults

 western society the middle adulthood stage is known to be the most

challenging. This phase is the most difficult because it is frequently perceived as
the long stage from childhood and older adulthood. Thus, adult development
requires adaptation to changes, preparedness for later years, and an acceptance
of foreseen mortality.
 middle Eastern women face many challenges during the transition to adulthood.
For instance, most women have been sexually abused, with low probability of
obtaining a job and political power. Women constantly are struggling to fight for
rights and earn independence.
 In white middle-class families both genders are perceived equally unlike middle
eastern. Culture influences how men or women manage to handle their personal
relations between genders. 
Adult Health Transitions and Nursing Interventions

 In a health/ illness transitional event it is best to be well-managed by the

provision of culturally related health promotion and risk reduction approach. An
illness may impact an individual at first. So, it is important for the nurse to
initially provide nursing interventions that are health-promoting
Example a patient diagnosed with HIV/AIDS will need family support and
family counseling guidance.
In African Americans it is well-known their great interest in
integrating in church-based health interventions. Religious
beliefs and practices allow them to cope with the stress of
caregiving. In addition, this population is extremely family
oriented and spiritual. Spirituality is perceived as
empowerment, which bonds them closely to god. However, a
discussion on HIV/AIDS may rejected among African
Americans population because they may feel that it is
inappropriate to discuss this topic. Therefore, contributing a
huge challenge for most African American women to further
discuss safe sex, past sexual history, and drug use with their
new partners. In addition, research reveals that many African
American men and women do not seek early testing. Thus,
leading to unawareness of the diagnosis and possibly further
spreading of the illness to others.
 another illness situational crisis may be type 2 diabetes. Newly diagnosed
patients with type 2 diagnosis require extensive family support, lifestyle
changes, and nutritional guidance. 
These individuals are insulin dependent and the nurse must
educate and teach the patient injection sites, dosage, and
medication administration scheduling skills. The nurse must
learn these skills and adjust to the new lifestyle changes to
maintain a healthy quality of life. Otherwise, an uncontrolled
type 2 diabetic can lead to serious health complications such
as heart disease, vision problems, kidney disease, neuropathy,
and lower extremity amputation. Therefore, a nurse should
anticipate the patient with these outcomes if treatment is
not followed. It is common for Hispanic population to not
follow treatment and be in denial. Support groups, family
support, and educational resources are important health
promoting nursing interventions.