Portfolio Maternal & Peadiatric Care - Essay Example

Portfolio- Maternal and Pediatric care Portfolio- Maternal and Pediatric care Interviews with individuals from different cultures can be difficult. This is especially so if the interviewee is from a dissimilar social structure to the one that their interviewer is from. The reading is vivid proof of this fact. The following essay will discuss the problems that can arise because of the cultural diversity present in the world today. It will also explain how these, though sometimes confounding, problems should be solved.

The first thing that should be noted in any interview is the culture or society the patient is coming from. If the interviewer is truly interested in helping the individual they should denote and understand the social and behavioral patterns of the given ethnicity (Sleath 2003). Thus, the interviewer should determine that they understand the attitude of the individual they will interview before they are brought into the room.The woman's rejection of an interpreter is the first mistake that was made while conducting the interview.

All patients are not fluent in the English language. It is necessary to use a professional interpreter because it can allow a safe and effective interview to be conducted instead of a confusing and frustrating one (NSW Health Department). Often enough, individuals feel no need for an interpreter because they are embarrassed or feel their personal information will not be respected. To maintain their privacy they reject the idea of an interpreter. Under these circumstances the interviewer should convince the patient that their information will be kept confidential.

They should also be reassured that the interpreter will be most useful, not only because they are aware of the terminology required to explain the situation but because they are also bound to present the facts exactly as they are: accurately and full. The presence of a male child and his behavior should have immediately warned the interviewer to the lack of professionalism with which the interview might be conducted. A child running and distracting attention from the interviewee can be destructive to its true cause.

Though the interviewee tried to convince the parents to keep the child out, they were unsuccessful. Instead, the unreasonableness of allowing a young infant to enter the interview room should have been recognized. An interviewer should make it clear that no children are allowed to the interview or maintain a play-place outside the office where they can be left. It is because the child was not only a source of disturbance for the parents but it also prevented a proper interview to be conducted about what would pose to be a serious problem.

The last factor about the interview goes back to certain cultural values that are maintained by some societies: a respect and almost fear for the male counterpart. The men maintain a hierarchy of power where the woman is not allowed to speak (Joshi & Kharel). Thus, the interviewer must understand the discomfort that is brought out be a male presence in the room and ensure that the man is excluded from an interview such as this. BibliographyJoshi S & Kharel J (2008), Violence against women in Nepal: An overview, Available from < http://kmc.academia.edu/Sunil/Papers/100250/Violence-against-Women-in-Nepal----An-Overview> [Accessed August 12 2009]New South Wales Government, Interpreters, NSW Health Department, Available from [Accessed August 12 2009]Sleath B (2003), Hispanic ethnicity, physician-patient communication, and antidepressant adherence, Comprehensive Psychiatry, Volume 44, Issue 3, Pages 198-204