Heritage Assessment
Melody Tejada
Grand Canyon University: NRS 429V
April 17, 2011

Heritage Assessment

Throughout the years, people and families from a diverse group of cultures and religions have developed many health traditions and practices based on their culture and heritage. Most people that grow up having followed certain practices continue to do so into adulthood and also pass those traditions down to their children and so on. However, there are also those who break out of the traditions they grew up with and develop health beliefs and practices of their own. As a child growing up in the New York City, I remember being surrounded by my Hispanic cultural background which included a certain number of health traditions and practices. As I became an independent adult and became a registered nurse, I began developing traditions and practices of my own that do not particularly follow the Hispanic culture. In this paper we will review what I was able to identify from completing the heritage assessment tool and we will also compare the findings of my own personal heritage beliefs to those of two other cultures from different families I have spoken to from the Chinese and Caucasian cultures. We will address how these cultures commonly view health practices and also will discuss different ways in which they maintain, protect and restore their health. Culture can shape a person’s concept of disease and treatment, and at times can even affect the way they view the existence of certain illnesses. My family is originally from the Dominican Republic and although I was born in the United States I was still brought up and surrounded with common Hispanic beliefs when it came to dealing with one’s health. When it comes to medicine, the Hispanic culture is very traditional with their beliefs and the majority of the heritage believes very strongly that illness can usually be treated more effectively with home remedies rather than with any type of prescribed medication. A lot of them feel that are able to diagnose themselves better than a doctor can and often do not seek medical treatment until it is too late. Growing up I remember my mother having certain remedies for my siblings and I to take when we were not feeling well. If we had an upset stomach she would make us tea or baking soda mixed in water to drink. If we had a sore throat she would make us gargle with warm salt and lemon water and if we had a bad cough she would give us a teaspoon of honey with a few sprinkles of salt to help relieve the coughing. They also believe in using things such as rubs, cleansings, and spiritual intervention. When it comes to maintaining and protecting health in the Dominican culture they believe they use such preventative measures as boiling water and cooking food thoroughly to prevent any type of food poisoning and also use things as mosquito nets in their beds and insect repellants to avoid being infected with diseases such as malaria and dengue that are commonly found in the Dominican Republic. When speaking to a co-worker who comes from a Chinese background, she informed me that her culture has different health practices that they feel have an effect on their health. For example, the Chinese believe that illness and disease is caused by some type of imbalance in the body between hot and cold or Yin and Yang. They feel that in order to prevent illnesses they must maintain the harmony within their body. The Chinese culture is very big on using herbal medicine and things such as acupuncture and a technique called moxibustion. Moxibustion is described as “the application of heat resulting from the burning of a small bundle of tightly bound herbs, or moxa, to targeted acupoints” (American Cancer Society, 2011). The “main purpose of moxibustion, as with most forms of traditional Chinese medicine, is to strengthen the blood, stimulate the flow of energy, and maintain general health” (Acupuncture Today, 2011). Many of them who are very traditional in their beliefs also tend to avoid things such as blood draws and surgery because they feel the body must be kept intact for it to remain in good health. Next, I spoke with an African-American co-worker and found that the African American culture relies a lot on magical and religious interventions to protect themselves from illness. They feel that by using certain candles and oils or by wearing specific amulets and charms while they recite a psalm will keep away evil spirits and prevent them from becoming injured or sick. When they do become sick, they usually see this as a form of punishment for evil and do not seek medical treatment from medical doctors but instead more commonly from traditional healers. After learning more about the way different cultures view health maintenance, protection and restoration, it has made me more aware of how we need to assess our patient’s needs and fears when they are in a hospital setting and understand that a lot of their cultural health beliefs will influence many of the decisions they make. After analyzing some of my own cultural traditions in health, I came to realize that I do sometimes still incorporate some of the home remedies that were given to me as a child. When I have a sore throat, I usually still gargle with salt lemon water just like my mom used to give my siblings and I. According to the American Nurses Association, nursing is defined as “the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and populations. Regardless of how long the nursing profession has been around, the main purpose of nursing has been to nurture, protect, and provide care to people who are ill. I can deeply identify with the profession as I came in to the profession specifically because of the fact that I wanted to help people and make a difference in their lives when they needed it the most. I have had the opportunity of coming into people’s lives and directly having an effect on the successful outcome of their care. It is the best feeling in the world when a patient looks in your eyes and sincerely says thank you. The nursing profession will always be changing and practices that we once had and followed are always changing and being replaced with newly found practices. However, we must remember that the nursing heritage is much like a cultural heritage in which we carry certain practices and traditions with us throughout our career, but we must be aware that each individual is different and we must respect everyone’s beliefs and traditions and allow each person to bring different experiences into the field.

References

Cassileth, B. (2011, January 24). Moxibustion. Retrieved from http://www.cancer.org/Treatment/TreatmentsandSideEffects/ComplementaryandAlternativeMedicine/ManualHealingandPhysicalTouch/moxibustion
Moxibustion. (2001, January). The acupuncture and oriental medicine source: acupuncture today, Retrieved from http://acupuncturetoday.com/abc/moxibustion.php
American Nurses Association. (2001). Considering nursing? Retrieved from http://www.nursingworld.org/EspeciallyForYou/StudentNurses.aspx