Online Program

336338
Narrative: Combining Culture and Practice: Developing a PHN Practice Model


Sunday, November 1, 2015

Kimberly Madden, MSN, RN, College of Nursing, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Neva Kayaani, RN, BSN, Phoenix Area Indian Health Service, Phoenix, AZ
Statement of the Problem:  Working with Native American communities is mutually rewarding and challenging. Non-Native nurses need to be cognizant of the cultures and traditions of the communities they serve in order to provide culturally competent care.

Approach: A Non-Native Public Health Nurse collaborated with a Native American Public Health Nurse colleague to identify the best approach to practice that would be culturally sensitive and culturally competent in working with members of the local Navajo tribe.

Product/Outcome: This collaboration resulted in a PHN practice model that is still in refinement that centers the focus on balance and harmony, a concept essential to Native Americans’ focus on wellbeing. This model is still developing and will need to be tested for validity.

Implications: Public Health Nurses are in a unique profession, which draws on becoming immersed in culture and community. PHN practice models need to be developed for those new to the profession or new to the communities we serve, especially those with specific cultural beliefs and traditions that deserve the utmost respect and inclusion in practice.

Learning Areas:

Public health or related nursing

Learning Objectives:
Describe the Native American focus on harmony and balance as it relates to overall well being. Discuss practice implications of non-Natives working with Native American communities Identify next steps in testing and implementing the PHN practice model.

Keyword(s): Native Americans, Nurses/Nursing

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: My nursing career has been spent working extensively in Public Health Nursing with the Native American population focused on addressing health disparities and improving Public Health Nursing practice through practice inquiry, nursing theory and cultural competency.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.