Focus On A Unique Group Of People And Their Beliefs And Practices (Essay Sample)

Italian American, Caucasian Culture
Student’s Name
Institution Affiliation
Italian American, Caucasian Culture
Culture refers to a set of values or beliefs. These values form the basis of many communities. Culture defines traditions which are passed down from one generation to another and influence how people in a society act, react, or generally live CITATION Mar14 \l 2057 (McFarland & Wehbe-Alamah, 2014). A lot of people have cultural beliefs that impact on the healthcare set up. There are cultures that do not believe in medicine, blood transfusion, or even surgery. However, it is imperative for nurses or any other medical practitioners to be sensitive to cultural beliefs and find a way to be professional and efficient without undermining these beliefs. It is also important to be culturally competent and avoid rushing into assumptions without paying attention to details or talking to people. Nurses should provide effective nursing care to patients with roots from different cultures. Nurses should be willing to keep on learning and be sensitive in the way they communicate whether verbally or non-verbally. Cultural beliefs range from how people prefer to be addressed to their beliefs on medicine or other health issues. Some of the most rampant cultural beliefs and practices in relation to health are religious beliefs; there are dominions which counter most of the
Italian Americans
Italy played an important role in the discovery of modern health care with its ancient studies. Modern Italy has numerous doctors and health specialists. However, Italian American have often been driven by different practices of protecting and maintaining health. Italian American have a lot of cultural beliefs such as the essence of wine to their body and thus the continued aspect of alcoholism or the religious beliefs about tragedies or mourning. Italian Americans believe in customs and superstitions of the Italian folk culture.
Italian Folk Culture
Italian folk culture is built around architecture, music, food, family, and other cultural beliefs. It is imperative for a nurse to understand whether a patient still believes in the ancient traditions and customs. A nurse should be sensitive to different customs and beliefs since they are a progressive definition of the Italian Americans. This will require an in-depth understanding on beliefs and practices. The Italian Folk Culture pays a lot of emphasis on the Italian cuisine and thus it is important to understand and respect that this means a great deal to the Italian Americans. Some medical intervention may require a patient to cut off some diet. It is important to address this issue with utmost regards to the traditional meals.
The Italian Folk Culture was mainly dominated by a religion of Roman Catholicism. Therefore, nurses should understand the faith of the patients and what they believe about this religion. Some of the people are not Roman Catholics but it is essential to ask rather than assume. This will give the nurse a keener and clearer way to treat the patient. The Italian Folk Culture is ancient but outlines a lot of beliefs and customs that are still practiced in the modern day.
This culture emphasizes on the importance of family. The Italians as well as the Italian-American value the bond of family and often hold family gatherings in a bid to spend time together CITATION Kim17 \l 2057 (Zimmermann, 2017). Medical practitioners should understand their patients, their likes, their beliefs, and their source of strength. Some healthcare situations will require the nurses to inform the family members about the situation of a patient and thus it is easier when the nurse is aware of the value and strength of family. Nurses should be sensitive to the beliefs of the Italian Americans to avoid stereotypes or unguided beliefs.
Beliefs on Tragedies and Death
Religion determine how people behave and how they react to treatments or other health issues. However, there are issues that are not explained on religious lines. The issues of death, mourning, and grief strongly impact on a healthcare set up and are taken differently by Italian Americans. The Italians often keep their dead with them. This is a cultural belief that has no relation with religion. The more critical issue that nurses should understand is how these people grief or respond to different health issues. Girls grieve the loss of their fathers differently; in most Italian-American families, girls have a strong bond with their fathers since they are hit by the loss more and often take a lot of time to grief recollecting past memories and trying to get their fathers back into their lives CITATION Man16 \l 2057 (Mangione, Lyons, & DiCello, 2016). Nurses should be aware that the reaction of daughters is different especially due to a prolonged illness which may eventually result to death.
Italian American daughters grieve the loss of their fathers with utmost sadness and often search for meaning the contemporary context of the Italian-American culture and family life CITATION Man16 \l 2057 (Mangione, Lyons, & DiCello, 2016). This insinuates that the people left behind after a loss may hold the burden of the loss, blaming their acts or innate nature. It is essential for nurses to understand the complexity of such a situation and try and relate to both the patient and the family. It is important to guide and counsel them. Eventually, they will require someone to convince them that it is not their fault and that everything will be okay. Nurses will be granted more responsibilities not only on the patient but also on the people related to this patient and thus the need to understand their distinct cultural beliefs and practices.
Religion
Nurses should pay more attention to the relationship between spirituality and medicine. The Italian Americans hold a strong belief that religion and spirituality play a huge role in the healing of medical conditions CITATION Rom15 \l 2057 (Romeo, Gallo, & Tagarelli, 2015). A lot of people are sensitive about their religion and can misinterpret a slight dig or misguided conception outlined by a medical practitioner. There are a lot of religious beliefs on numerous healing methods divided into a lot of diverse categories such as holy water or blessed oil, religious objects, blessings, pilgrimages, saints, and contacts among others CITATION Rom15 \l 2057 (Romeo, Gallo, & Tagarelli, 2015). Despite these healing methods, it is essential to understand the extent at which these people believe in them. Some people are religious but understand the essence of scientific methods of treatments while others are confined in religious beliefs about healing.
Religious rituals and prayers have previously been used to heal countless illnesses with people believing that attending a mass would effectively improve their health status CITATION Spe12 \l 2057 (Spector, 2012). This stipulates that there are different types of healers depending on the condition and this may require simple activities such prayers or mass services or complex activities such as rituals. However, technological advances have led to a change in most of these beliefs. Technological advances have stipulated more advanced and effective treatment methods. However, it is important to be sensitive about various customs and traditions before diving in to modern treatment methods.
Spirituality and culture are two concepts that are closely interconnected in their practice. Nurses should be multifaceted in their approach to medical practices. They should have a keen interest in diverse cultural beliefs, especially on the basis of religion. Spirituality may refers to finding meaning of life or other personal beliefs and thus modern medicine may eventually have an impact on religion. Therefore, nurses should find a welcome approach to medicine that respectfully incorporates different religious beliefs.
Italian Americans have maintained their religion over time with most Italian dominated areas in the USA harboring Italian parishes meant to maintain their culture and Italian language. Italian Americans are still driven by culture and traditions. Nurses should understand how to address these people, which language to use and how to respectfully understand and relate to their religion. Some nurses can speak in Italian and thus they can use this aspect to make the Italian Americans feel more comfortable.
Traditions and Beliefs
Italian American cultures feed on American and Italian cultures and heritage. They place high value on life, family, and good food CITATION Lin18 \l 2057 (Bogner, 2018). A family is heavily involved in medical situations and can play a huge role in decision making. Some topics such as sex are considered a taboo and thus it is important to limit openly talking about them. The health providers should understand how the patients feel about these issues and thus respect their decision if they choose not to offer a lot of information on the matter. Nurses should eliminate fear and anxiety by offering a clear outline of the procedures and using minimal medical terminologies.
Caucasian communities such as the Italian American believe that the cause of an infection can be a hereditary contamination due to a human or supernatural cause. Health providers should understand the different views and beliefs. It is important to understand why they consider fresh air healthy and refer to drafts as causes of illnesses. This will offer a clear insight and understanding on their views and beliefs.
Italian American have subtle beliefs such as the beliefs on curses and the evil eyes. This shows that they strongly relate to traditions. A healthcare environment may offer a challenging time to any person. Therefore, it is important to make patients and their friends and families feel respected. Understanding their beliefs, regardless of how lame they may seem,...