Transcultural Nursing Theory dictates that nurses shoulder the responsibility of sensitivity about the cultural backgrounds and health beliefs of their patients. It is imperative to incorporate the cultural needs and health beliefs of various patients that nurses encounter in their practice so they can dispense individualized care that meets the clients’ needs (Registered Nursing Org, 2015) . Health beliefs among the East Asian community especially affect nursing care accorded to them in various ways in the various stages of healthcare provision.
Medical preparation is inalienably tied to the symptoms exhibited and the diagnosis made. In some instances, the necessary medication to be dispensed to patients rests on the nurses’ discretion after the evaluation of the diagnosis results informed by the patients’ description of their condition. Among the East Asian population, mental health disorders are often viewed as imaginary and evoking stigma. As a result of their health beliefs, therefore, rather than complains relating to their mental health, they often instead exhibit somatic complains (Kramer, Kwong, Lee, & Chung, 2002) . The recognition of this fact is therefore necessary to healthcare practitioners especially concerned with mental health to make correct medication preparations targeted at mental health despite the patients' reference to somatic complaints.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
It is essential for nurses to educate clients about all their medication prescribed to them and make clarifications on every issue the clients might raise about the medication administered to them. East Asian health beliefs can be inhibiting to the precise delivery of information and clarifications regarding the medication delivered. Prevalent among the East Asian communities is the view that medical practitioners are an absolute authority who seldom err therefore their instructions and directions should be taken as they are without questioning or seeking further information (Jin, Slomak, & Blixen, 2002) . Consequently, most East Asians shy away from asking questions relating to their medication including side effects and proper conditions to observe before partaking them. East Asian health beliefs may also compel them to use non-conventional forms of medication such as herbal remedies alongside their prescribed medication, a resolve which in some instances could result in fatal reactions among the two categories of medication (Kramer, Kwong, Lee, & Chung, 2002) .
East Asian health beliefs have adverse effects such as delays or failure to seek treatment. Their health beliefs may also prevent them from seeking preventive screening and diagnostic testing. Most East Asians view medical problems as a result of imbalances in the body, and in some instances based on religious considerations, an imbalance of their psyche (Jin, Slomak, & Blixen, 2002) . They would, therefore, seek to remedy their medical conditions through various means such as meditation, herbal treatment and ecchymosis rather than seek western medicine. In traditional Chinese culture, the belief is that blood is a non-renewable vital energy for the body. Consequently, Chinese patients may not seek preventive care which involves blood tests to screen things such as glucose and cholesterol levels (Kim & H.Keefe, 2010) .
The East Asian health beliefs affect the degree to which they follow medication regimen. Herbal remedies and traditional treatments such as acupuncture, skin scraping and cupping a vital component of East Asian healthcare and their health beliefs accord great importance to these treatment methods. Consequently, in addition to their recommended western medication regimen, East Asian patients may often incorporate these alternative treatment methods or disregard the Western medicine regimen altogether when they seem to be getting better or their recovery process seems to take longer than they anticipated. Common herbal remedies used alongside western medication among the East Asian population are ginseng and black-tree fungus (Jin, Slomak, & Blixen, 2002) .
References
Jin, X. W., Slomak, J., & Blixen, C. E. (2002). Cultural and clinical issues in the Care of Asian patients. Cleveland Clinical Journal of Medicine, 69 (1), 50-58.
Kim, W., & H.Keefe, R. (2010). Barriers to Healthcare Among Asian Americans. Social Work in Public Health, 25 (3-4), 286-294.
Kramer, E. J., Kwong, K., Lee, E., & Chung, H. (2002). Cultural Factors Influencing the Mental Health of Asian Americans. Western Journal of Medicine, 176 (4), 227-231.
Registered Nursing Org. (2015). Cultural Awareness and Influences on Health: NCLEX-RN . Retrieved from Registered Nursing Org: https://www.registerednursing.org/nclex/cultural-awareness-influences-health/
