Culture in professionalism has been debated by scholars in all fields of specialization over the years. Culture is described as the collective behaviors, ideas, and customs of a particular group in society (Bonvillain, 2019). Culture is vital in all fields of professionalism, especially in the field of nursing. The nursing profession requires nurses to be prepared to provide care to all persons without biases due to cultural differences. In contemporary society, the populations are culturally diverse, and therefore there is a need for the nurses to provide culturally competent care to all people despite their cultural background. Every culture is made of values and beliefs related to health care, but most of the people expect respect during medical treatment. The healthcare profession requires to maintain ethics while consistently striving for improvements for effective communication skills to promote positive health outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to discuss facts regarding Arab Americans and the six cultural aspects that nurses may need to understand to provide adequate care for the patients of Arabic culture.
U.S. Census Data on Arab Americans
According to the United States Census of 2010, there are 1.6 million Arab Americans in the United States. Out of this population, approximately 290,000 people defined themselves to be purely Arabs, while 224,241 defined themselves as other Arabs (Kayyali, 2013). Their nation of origin lists other groups in the 2010 Census. According to the Arab American Institute, Arab Americans reside in all the 50 states in the U.S. At the same time, 94 percent of the Arabic ethnic population lives in the metropolitan areas of major towns. Dearborn city was concluded by the U.S. 2010 census to be carrying a more significant percentage of Arabic ethnicity. Forty percent of this population also resides in Michigan, a southwest suburb of Detroit. 403,445 Arab Americans live in the Detroit Metropolitan area (Kayyali, 2013). Other cities with the highest populations of Arab Americans include New York City, with approximately 371,000 and Los Angeles with about 308, 000. The median age of the Arab population is 33 years.
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According to the 2000 census, it was concluded that Arab Americans value education more than average Americans. Statistically, it was found out that more than 40 percent of the Arabic ethnicity have bachelors' degrees as compared to Americans, with 24 percent of its population having college degrees (Kayyali, 2013). As per the census, it was also found out that 17 percent of this group had acquired graduate degrees, while 9 percent of the average Americans had graduate degrees. Furthermore, the research also shows that 80 percent of Arab Americans living in the U.S. are citizens. The 2000 census concluded that 40 percent of the Arab population are first-generation, while a quarter of them came from the year 1990. The 2000 poll also found that 88 percent of Arab Americans work in private organizations. Statistically, the average yearly earnings of a family from Arab American ethnicity is 52,300 U.S. dollars, which is higher by 4.6 percent for the rest of average American families. Besides, more than half of the Arab Americans live in their own purchased homes (Kayyali, 2013). Furthermore, 42 percent of this population are also managers and professionals in private sectors as compared to 34 percent of other Americans. However, 17 percent of Arab Americans were poor in the year 1999 as compared to 12 percent of the total population, indicating a wide gap between the rich and the poor in this population.
Assessment of Factors
Communication
The most known problem in hospitals is the issue of miscommunication. The inability to communicate is frequent when there is no lingual understanding between the staff and the patient. Some of the terms used by other ethnicities imply a different meaning when used by different ethnic groups. For example, the term "fanny" is used differently by British and northern Americans. Apart from miscommunication due to different understandings of words, there are also cultural differences in interpretations of signs and gestures. For example, most of the Arabs consider direct eye contact between a male and a female as a sexual invitation. To avoid such misunderstanding and miscommunication, it is vital to know the norms of a particular culture.
Space
It refers to a level of comfort that is related to personal physical distance. Within Arab Americans, own space is a sensitive issue, especially between opposite genders. Unnecessary social contact is undesired.
Social Organization
It refers to patterns of cultural behavior that are acquired via enculturation. It is vital to understand that different people from different backgrounds have varying extent to which they can assimilate into a dominant culture.
Time
Described as the duration or period. States such as China are past-oriented since they value their culture, and therefore they will always do things the way they used to be done in the past. Such cultures are reluctant to try out new ideas. On the other hand, ethnicities such as Latin Americans are present-oriented. They focus on here and now, and their chances of considering the future are low.
Environmental Control
This refers to the capability of an individual to control the ecosystem.
Biological Variations
This refers to differences that are related to the physical characteristics such as the structure of the body, the color of the skin, and hair texture. According to Boyle and Andrews (1989), there are eight variations that nurses need to assess. Among them value orientation and religion.
Perception and Expectation
Stereotypes of Arab Americans have been presented in various forms by mass media in the American culture. These stereotypes have had a negative repercussion on Arab Americans. There are a lot of perceptions and expectations that most people hold about Arab Americans. First, Arab Americans and Muslims are considered to be the same people. This is not true since Arabs refer to the individuals who speak Arabic, while Muslims are the people who practice Islam as their religion. Many Arabs are not Muslims, and not all Muslims are Arabs (Nassar-McMillan et al., 2007). Since all Arabs are considered to be Muslims, they are incorrectly associated with any negative activities of an Islamic movement.
Behavior Change Related to Communication
As a nurse, I will modify how I approach my patients based on their cultures to avoid misunderstanding and miscommunication. I need to incorporate proper communication skills in health care to decrease. Reducing the fault enhances the attention of the patients. Furthermore, communication among corresponding healthcare disciplines is a critical tool during the provision of patient care.
Moreover, understanding the cultural differences of my patients is essential. For example, instead of neglecting and avoiding patients based on their different cultural values, I will choose to always add my opinion, especially in the scenario where the beliefs of the patient are extreme. I will ensure that my approach while tackling the issue, does not make the patient feel devalued. Knowing what is the norm within the cultural beliefs of the patient fosters better communication, understanding, and service delivery.
References
Bonvillain, N. (2019). Language, culture, and communication: The meaning of messages . Rowman & Littlefield.
Kayyali, R. (2013). U.S. census classifications and Arab Americans: Contestations and definitions of identity markers. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies , 39 (8), 1299-1318. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183x.2013.778150
Nassar-McMillan, S. C., Lambert, R. G., & Hakim-Larson, J. (2007). Ethnic identity of Arab Americans in a post 9-11 climate. PsycEXTRA Dataset . https://doi.org/10.1037/e714822007-001
