At our facility, we use the Giger and Davidhizar’s Transcultural Assessment Model to get information about the culture of the patient. The tool identifies aspects like communication, space, time, social organization, beliefs on environmental control and causes for disease, and the biological variations of the client or patient ( Basbakkal, Karaburak, & Tas, 2014) . The information aids in identifying the cultural beliefs of a patient about a health condition. It also helps in identifying the cultural attitudes of the patient towards healthcare services and the various procedures of nursing. This knowledge helps the nurse in respecting and appreciating the freedoms and culture of the patient in question before performing any procedures. It helps avoid cases where the patient’s will or beliefs are contravened. The tool has a limitation of having too many details, some of which is inappropriate for example requiring the nurse to be keen on the space factor as the patient is relatively irrelevant. Giger and Davidhizar’s Transcultural Assessment Model could be improved by having a proper and precise recording system for all the details under interrogation. Cultural information for the patient should be retrievable from the patient information record system.
A significant challenge with practicing the Giger and Davidhizar's Transcultural Assessment Model is the fact that a nurse may ask some questions that the patient might find being too personal. Therefore, the patient might be unwilling to relay the required information especially if they are from a different cultural background with the interviewer ( Betancourt, Carrillo, Green, & Owusu , 2016). I had a rough experience with a Hispanic patient who kept objecting to every question on the grounds of being insecure about the usage of the information. The patient was protesting that the questions were malicious and intimidating. From experience, I learned the importance of persuading a patient in a way that makes them feel comfortable when sharing cultural information.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
References
Basbakkal, Z., Karaburak, S. S., & Tas, F., (2014). Giger and Davidhizar’s Transcultural Assessment Model.
Betancourt, J. R., Carrillo, J. E., Green, A. R., & Owusu Ananeh-Firempong, I. I. (2016). Defining cultural competence: a practical framework for addressing racial/ethnic disparities in health and health care. Public health reports .
