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Professional Communication and Culture Sensitivity

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Professional Communication: Culture Sensitivity
James Spring
Grand Canyon University Nursing 502

March 13, 2011

Professional Communication: Culture Sensitivity
Mexican Americans represent the fastest growing population in the United States, The Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has identified a widening gap in health care for this patient population. I chose this cultural because we are seeing more in our hospital and I have a niece who is married to a Mexican immigrant. My niece has been married for five years and it has been very interesting to learn more about this culture. Summary of Article
In the Journal of Emergency Nursing (Jones, 2008) the article Emergency Nurses’ Caring experiences with the Mexican American patient it talks about the health care disparities in the Hispanic population. This was a qualitative study to try and understand emergency nurses experiences when caring for this patient population. The Mexican Americans in this study were individuals with Mexican heritage regardless of citizenship status or duration of residency in the United States. The results were very clear; the language barrier affected all aspects of care. The nurse patient relationship was really only established by the nurse who spoke limited Spanish. The recommendation was to have translators available for these patients around the clock. The Emergency Nurses Association supports culturally competent care and are aware that failure to provide care will lead to repeat visits to the emergency room and costly unnecessary treatments. The Hispanic population often uses the emergency department for their primary care. Application to Practice
Working contingent in a large metropolitan 120 bed emergency department I know first hand how difficult the language barrier is to care for these patients. They have two different

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