Towards More Effective Patient Care: The Role of the Nurse as Culture Broker

bibliographic database
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Periodical article

Title:	Towards More Effective Patient Care: The Role of the Nurse as Culture Broker
Author:	Herselman, Stephne
Year:	1994
Periodical:	South African Journal of Ethnology
Volume:	17
Issue:	3
Period:	September
Pages:	83-87
Language:	English
Geographic term:	South Africa
Subjects:	Xhosa health personnel Labor and Employment Health and Nutrition Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Health, Nutrition, and Medicine
Abstract:	Research has shown that patients who adhere to beliefs and behaviour regarding health care of a more 'traditional' nature can experience particular problems in hospital. An important means of resolving conflict is through the strategy of culture brokerage and no one is better suited than the nurse to fulfil the role of culture broker in a hospital context. Nurses often share the patients' sociocultural orientation, including their language. It is suggested that culture brokerage be recognized as an institutionalized aspect of the role of the nurse involved in caring for patients whose frames of reference differ from those of biomedical health-care professionals. The paper is based on case studies of 19 Xhosa-speaking patients and interviews conducted with 12 Xhosa-speaking nurses in a rural provincial hospital in South Africa. Bibliogr., sum. in Afrikaans and English.