{"id":1723,"date":"2011-08-01T01:55:56","date_gmt":"2011-08-01T01:55:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inmedblogs.us\/nicholascomninellis\/?p=1723"},"modified":"2015-05-04T01:56:45","modified_gmt":"2015-05-04T01:56:45","slug":"you-cursed-my-babies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inmedblogs.us\/nicholascomninellis\/2011\/08\/01\/you-cursed-my-babies\/","title":{"rendered":"You Cursed My Babies!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/inmedblogs.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/you-cursed-my-babies-banner-e1430704397628.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-959\" src=\"https:\/\/inmedblogs.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/you-cursed-my-babies-banner-e1430704397628.jpg\" alt=\"you-cursed-my-babies-banner\" width=\"530\" height=\"159\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cYou cast a spell on my babies, Doctor. Surely my babies are going to die! Your envious, evil eye, it discloses the wickedness of your heart!\u201d<\/em> She pulled her twins tight against her chest. <em>\u201cYou are an agent of the Devil,\u201d<\/em> she spewed.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I was stunned at the young Hispanic mother. We were just wrapping up a routine one-month newborn checkup. I found both babies to be vigorous, nourished, and each child wearing a charm bracelet. With an expression of exasperation, I asked the mother, <em>\u201cWhat did I do wrong? Why do you believe I cursed your babies?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>She fired a distrusting glance at me. <em>\u201cDoctors should know better! You gushed over how adorable are my newborns, and you probed their bodies. But nothing more!\u201d<\/em> With that the mother stormed out of the exam room.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I looked on in shock and disbelief at the cross-cultural meltdown that just transpired, and I am not alone. A recent survey of physicians who participated in the Healthy Families program found that 71 percent of providers believe that culture and language are important in the delivery of patient care. 51 percent believe that their patients did not adhere to medical treatments as a result of cultural or linguistic barriers.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The challenge of cross-culture and language barriers is a daily reality for us in healthcare. Fortunately in this instance, a nurse practitioner, Helena, also of Hispanic origin, came to my side.<em> \u201cDon\u2019t you understand why the mother is upset?\u201d She queried. \u201cI am simply clueless,\u201d<\/em> I defended, <em>\u201cI was just providing a normal well-child check.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Helena shook her head. <em>\u201cDid you complement the mother about her babies?\u201d \u201cOf course,\u201d<\/em> I responded, <em>\u201cI expressed how lovely they are.\u201d \u201cBut did you touch them fondly?\u201d<\/em> Helena continued. <em>\u201cTouch them fondly? No, of course not.\u201d<\/em> I said. <em>\u201cI\u2019m a doctor. It\u2019s my job to examine them.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Helena declared, <em>\u201cYou have so little insight into our culture, Dr Comninellis. A touch of tenderness is necessary to communicate genuine affection. Without the touch, you are only expressing jealous envy. You are communicating that you wish the babies were your own or that they would die.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Again I was shocked at her observation. <em>\u201cSo how can I learn such intricacies about people of your culture?\u201d<\/em> I inquired. Helena\u2019s response was more sympathetic. <em>\u201cYou begin with a keen awareness that cultures are indeed powerful. You and this Hispanic women are from very different worlds.\u201d<\/em> I nodded in hearty agreement. <em>\u201cNext,\u201d<\/em> she continued, <em>\u201cyou observe and seek to understand those differences. Allow extra time to ask Hispanic people their views about health. This will also build confidence and rapport between the two of you.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cAnd then?\u201d<\/em> I persisted. <em>\u201cThen,\u201d<\/em> replied Helena,<em> \u201cyou can adjust your care accordingly. For example, next time you provide a well-child check up, do not only complement the children but pat and stroke them tenderly in their mother\u2019s presence. This will convey your genuine admiration and dispel any suspicions.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Vietnamese, Afghans, Somalis, Nepalese, Haitians, Native Americans\u2026Do you find it challenging to provide effective health care to patients who are culturally distinct? Apply the process of observing, understanding, and adjusting to cultural differences. Together, let\u2019s progress beyond offering just quality healthcare and on toward providing culturally appropriate care.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; \u201cYou cast a spell on my babies, Doctor. Surely my babies are going to die! Your envious, evil eye, it discloses the wickedness of your heart!\u201d She pulled her twins tight against her chest. \u201cYou are an agent of the Devil,\u201d she spewed. &nbsp; I was stunned at the young Hispanic mother. We were [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmedblogs.us\/nicholascomninellis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmedblogs.us\/nicholascomninellis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmedblogs.us\/nicholascomninellis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmedblogs.us\/nicholascomninellis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmedblogs.us\/nicholascomninellis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inmedblogs.us\/nicholascomninellis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1723\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmedblogs.us\/nicholascomninellis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmedblogs.us\/nicholascomninellis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmedblogs.us\/nicholascomninellis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}