Anthropology and Nursing

Closely related to Medical Anthropology, anthropology in nursing concentrates mainly on the understanding and respect that must be given while providing health care for people of other cultures. Cross cultural differences in medicine, traditional and non traditional, are wide and vast from on society to the next. Many nurses with backgrounds or some formal training in anthropology believe that ethnocentricity has no place in their field. One must be as neutral and unbiased as possible, in order to give the best care possible.

Ideology and cultural diversity must be taken into account in this field. Culturally sensitive healthcare is a relatively new idea, butmost involved see the benefits of taking such a stance. Many members of a different culture will not seek westernized health care specifically for the reason of lack of understanding or respect for an "unpopular belief." This leads to untreated conditions, and a lower quality of life for many immigrants and foreigners, not only here in the United States, but in many other more developed countries. Nurses, who generally have the most personal interaction with patients, are experiencing this and taking steps to institute measures that will provide a universal approach, teach understanding, and ultimately, revamp the status quo of health care cross culturally.