Diversity and Health Assessments Essay

As Alice Randall (2012) showed, there are many different cultures, populations, and groups with a wide variety of beliefs that must all be taken into account when attempting to treat individuals within the field of health care. While not all of the issues are similar to that which Randall discussed, i.e. that they wish to remain overweight because it is considered culturally beautiful (2012), the fact of the matter is that many different cultural groups have different perceptions, ranging from everything to a distrust of medical personnel to a belief in spiritual options over medicine, to a desire for DNRs (do not resuscitate orders); while not all concerns are this extreme, it is imperative for an individual to take care and realize that there are other factors that weigh on the patient’s decision making abilities beyond that of medical advice.Diversity and Health Assessments Essay

In my time as a nurse, I have seen many different individuals experience many different issues or conflicts as they relate to the medical advice they have been given. Taking for example many of the Hispanic patients who would rather visit a bodega and obtain a “natural” remedy as opposed to filling a prescription, or taking a prescription in conjunction with a natural remedy from a bodega, potentially causing issues and drug interactions (Varney, 2013). An individual who is taking blood thinners should not drink willow bark tea, for example.Diversity and Health Assessments Essay