Heritage and Cultural Assessment
Gathering information about a patient’s culture is an essential part of the nursing assessment. The importance of a comprehensive cultural assessment cannot be underestimated. Race, ethnicity, and cultural values influence a patient’s view of health and potential treatments.
My first experiences with culture were relatively benign. I grew up in small-town Iowa where there was one African-American family and a smattering of families of Asian or Indian descent. The latter lived in town because their parent or parents were physicians at the local Veterans Administration (VA) Hospital. I lived in a vacuum with family living nearby, and all of my friends were Caucasian and Christian or Catholic.
My maternal grandparents were born and raised in different states – my grandfather was from eastern Tennessee and my grandmother from Louisiana, near New Orleans. My maternal grandfather migrated to Louisiana to work as a longshoreman where he met my grandmother who was raised in a Catholic orphanage. My grandmother’s roots can be traced backwards from Cajun Louisiana to Acadia (Nova Scotia) to 16th century France. My grandmother did not believe in doctors; but relied on folk medicine treatments. Brunvand (1996), states that “in the Cajun culture of southwestern Louisiana, for example, the principle folk practitioners are called ‘traiteurs,’ a term commonly applied to three different types of people.” These people included magic-religious healers, those who dispense home remedies, patent medicines or herbal cures; and specialists in voodoo (Brunvand, 1996). My grandmother never saw a doctor.
My parents were much different; we were well-cared for as children and saw a physician whenever necessary. My parents ensured that we were not unnecessarily exposed to illnesses, received our immunizations on a timely basis as well as dental and vision