Stereotypes and Generalizations

Stereotypes and Generalizations

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Stereotypes and Generalizations

Indeed, treating patients with respect only is not just enough for them to fully understand the nurses’ sentiments about respecting their culture and providing the best healthcare possible. Even though a nurse may have good intentions of trying to help the patient and the family, it is also true that based on the culture of the patient, they may not take the actions of the nurse politely. It is because some of them may go against their beliefs and therefore not proper according to them. Thus there are two aspects of cultural contrast and misunderstandings that occur primarily within the hospital environment; even though not limited to the hospital environment, they can happen in any place(Galanti, 2000). The first is a generalization, and the second is stereotypes. Even though these two are different, they relate mainly within the cultural aspect of health care.

For example, if a Latin woman comes to the hospital and the nurse immediately starts thinking of how Latin women have large families and never tries to seek more information, then that is a stereotype. On the other hand, if the nurse states that Latin women have large families and wonder if the woman has a large family, then it becomes a generalization to seek more information for clarification. Therefore stereotyping is not a positive aspect of nursing, and there is a danger in employing it (Galanti, 2000).

On the other hand, generalizing Latinos are sexually perversive but asking the woman instead of just believing it makes it a generalization whereby more information is needed. Latin American culture is one of my favorite cultures, and I am aware of most of the practices and activities. It s true that culture plays a very significant role in research and real-life healthcare provision.

Reference

Galanti, G.-A. (2000). An introduction to cultural differences. Western Journal of Medicine, 172(5), 335–336. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1070887//