Nursing--Cross-cultural studies

In the 1980s civil unrest in Guatemala forced many Mayans to flee their native land for Southeast Florida. Their rich cultural heritage has long been a source of wonder to anthropologists and tourists traveling into Mexico and Guatemala, yet little is known about their experiences of daily life and caring practices when they arrive in the United States. This study used Leininger's theory, Culture Care Diversity and Universality, and ethnonursing method to discover Mayan folk care practices and their relationship to professional care. Sixteen universal and four diverse themes were discovered. The struggle to preserve cultural identity while finding ways to be part of a new culture was an important theme. The use of healers, herbal medicines, rituals and unregulated injections were accepted practices within the community. Professional health care along with folk care practices were often used simultaneously. The processes of acculturation, enculturation, and marginalization influence caring modalities as well as contribute to the Guatemalan Mayan contribution to the South Florida Cultural Mosaic.

Women in recovery from chemical dependence represent a unique culture that should be viewed through a transcultural lens in order to facilitate and sustain their recovery in the dominant culture community. The purpose of this research was to explore the perceptions and experiences of women in recovery from chemical dependence and their return to the community. Leininger's ethnonursing method was used to obtain a holistic transcultural view of the beliefs, values and lifeways of twelve women in recovery. A communal moral focus was used to understand patterns of meaning, values, virtues and principles using Ray's Transcultural Nursing Ethics. Critical Social Theory was used as an overarching framework to critically analyze the lifeworld (community life of women in recovery) and the system (sociopolitical structures) to enhance the community nurse's knowledge about the needs of women to facilitate their return to community. Four themes included the following: understanding the lifeworld of chemical dependence was a symbol for facilitating the recovery process, restoring a sense of well being contributed to the meaning of a successful recovery, resituating in the community was demonstrated by actions of recreating new lifeways, and sustaining recovery by relying on the community as a source for supporting new lifeways. A critical analysis of the themes revealed paradoxical experiences of women in the dominant culture community. A synthesis of the findings from the lifeworld and analysis of the themes resulted in the co-creation of The Clarity-Parity Community Nursing Practice Framework. The framework demonstrates how the moral caring actions of the community nurse and the mutual moral caring actions of the community nurse, women in recovery and dominant culture community can result in increasing the clarity of transcultural communication and encouraging a position of parity for women in recovery within the dominant culture community.