Fundamentals of Nursing Q 559
A clinic nurse is performing an admission assessment for an African-American client scheduled for an emergency appendectomy. Which of the following questions would be inappropriate for the nurse to ask for the initial evaluation?
A. Do you have any allergies to medicines?
B. When did the pain start?
C. Do you have any difficulty breathing?
D. How close is your family during these situations?
Correct Answer: D. How close is your family during these situations?
For African-Americans, asking personal questions during the initial encounter is prohibited since it may be viewed as a way of interfering with them. Negative encounters from healthcare professionals can greatly affect African Americans’ decision to seek medical attention (McNeil, Campinha-Bacote, Tapscott, & Vample, 2002). One study reported that 12% of African Americans, compared to 1% of Caucasians, felt that health care practitioners treated them unfairly or with disrespect because of their race (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2001).
Option A: When interacting with African Africans, it is important to know that most prefer to be greeted formally, such as Doctor, Reverend, Pastor, Mr., Mrs., Ms., or Miss. They prefer their surname because the “family name” is highly respected and connotes pride in their family heritage.
Option B: African-American communication has been described as high context (Cokley, Cooke, & Nobles, 2005). They tend to rely on fewer words and use more non-verbal messages than what is actually spoken. The volume of African Americans’ voices is often louder than those in some other cultures; therefore, nurses must not misunderstand this attribute and automatically assume this increase in tone reflects anger.
Option C: Cultural skill is the ability to collect relevant cultural data regarding the patient’s presenting problem, as well as accurately perform a culturally based, physical assessment in a culturally sensitive manner (Campinha-Bacote, 2007). African-American speech is dynamic and expressive. They are also reported to be comfortable with a closer personal space than other cultural groups.