Post an explanation of the specific socioeconomic, spiritual, lifestyle, and other cultural factors associated with the patient you were assigned. Explain the issues that you would need to be sensitive to when interacting with the patient, and why. Provide at least five targeted questions you would ask the patient to build his or her health history and to assess his or her health risks.

The patient in the above scenario is a homeless man and because of this it is the job of the nurse practitioner to understand his socioeconomic status. Due to the patient being homeless the nurse practitioner must be sure to thoroughly assess risk factors that are associated with the patient. The nurse practitioner must also know if the patient is spiritual and his cultural background.  A person may not be of religious belief but may be a spiritual being and it is important for the practitioner to know this. The practitioner must be very detailed with questions and address the patient’s ethical factors, meaningful influences, right and wrong considerations, and elements about their faith (Nurse.org, 2017). Because the patient has a health history involving alcohol consumption, smoking and cocaine abuse the nurse must assess these things and educate the patient regarding these. It is important for the practitioner to educate the patient and notify the patient that “smoking is a major independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), including atherosclerotic vascular disease, hypertension, myocardial infarction, unstable angina, sudden cardiac death, and stroke” (Talukder, Johnson, Varadharaji, Lian, Kearns, El- Mahdy, Liu, & Zwejer 2011)

The nurse practitioner when addressing sensitive issues when interacting with the patients should use an evidence- based approach and establish a trusting relationship while providing a foundation for health care support that helps with resolving sensitive issues. The RESPECT Modell guides the practitioner through addressing sensitive issues. (Ball, Dains, Flynn, Solomon, & Stewart, 2019).  The nurse practitioner wants to build a trusting relationship with the patient and be nonjudgmental, show empathy, and be a positive listener when assessing the patient to ensure a complete and thorough history is obtained.

References:

Ball, J., W., Dains, J., A., Solomon, B., S., & Stewart, R., W. (2010). Seidel’s guide to physical examination: An interprofessional approach (9^th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Mosby

Nurse.org (2017). Nursing Tips: How to build a rapport with patients. Retrieved from https://nurse.org/articles/building-rapport-with-you-patients/

Talukder, M., A., Johnson, W., M., Varadharaji, S., Lian, J., Kearns, P., N., El-Mahdy, M., A., Liu, X., & Zwejer, J., L. (2011). Chronic cigarette smoking causes hypertension, increased oxidative stress, impaired NO bioavailability, endothelial dysfunction, and cardiac remodeling in mice. American Journal of Physiology. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpheart.00868.2010

By Day 6 of Week 2

Respond on or before Day 6 on 2 different days to at least two of your colleagues who were assigned a different patient than you. Critique your colleague’s targeted questions, and explain how the patient might interpret these questions. Explain whether any of the questions would apply to your patient, and why.

response

Very well stated, I agree with you that it is important for the nurse practitioners to consider diverse aspects of the patient including culture and socioeconomic status. For instance, in the provided case scenario the patient is homeless and there is need for the nurse practitioner to assess the risk factors that are associated with homelessness (Kuehn, 2019). People experiencing homelessness have limited access to resources and are often disengaged from health services, making them that much more susceptible to extreme weather events (e.g., extreme cold or heat) and ozone levels (Van Laere & Withers, 2008). These disparities often result in increased morbidity and mortality in the homeless population. Besides this, it is important for the nurse practitioner to focus on the cultural and spiritual background of the patient. Cultural respect should influence how healthcare organizations build care frameworks, conduct and analyze research, engage populations, and build trusting patient-provider relationships (Ali, 2019).

References

Ali, M. (2019). Intervention: Street art, faith and cultural engagement. Cultural Intermediaries Connecting Communities, 199-206. https://doi.org/10.1332/policypress/9781447344995.003.0015

Kuehn, B. M. (2019). Hospitals turn to housing to help homeless patients. JAMA, 321(9), 822. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2018.21476

Van Laere, I., & Withers, J. (2008). Integrated care for homeless people–sharing knowledge and experience in practice, education and research: Results of the networking efforts to find homeless health workers. The European Journal of Public Health, 18(1), 5-6. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckm107