The Uw Madison School Of The Middle East, Asia, And Latin...

Because our nation is culturally diverse we must be prepared to teach the next generation of nurses to be culturally sensitive so they won’t alienate their patients, and risk making the patients worse off. To insure this goal we must change how the UW-Madison School of Nursing treats these non-europeans: people from various arts of the Middle-East, Asia, and Latin America. Without instruction in cross-cultural medicine medical practitioners make patients wary, through breaking taboos during the course of ones treatment. (Fadiman, 61) Cross-cultural medicine is an important area to expand because, as Fadiman noted, fifty percent of the US population growth has come from immigrants as of 1990. (Fadiman, 271) These immigrants which include many Middle-Easterners, Asians, and Latin Americans may discover our healthcare system is culturally insensitive. This could lead to lower rates of hospital expenditure, as well as lower morbidity within the US. In fact, if patients were to st op viewing hospitals as last resorts their would be less death, because it is these visits where patients most often die. (Fadiman, 63) Although, there has been a push to incorporate lessons in cross-cultural medicine into medical schools we must also teach cross-cultural medicine to nurse practitioners in order to increase hospital accessibility. (Fadiman, 271) One reason cross-cultural medicine would help these groups get better care is that by understanding the individual cultures the doctors