title: Clinically applied medical ethnography: relevance to cultural competence in patient care.
abstract: Medical anthropology provides an excellent resource for nursing research that is relevant to clinical nursing. By expanding the understanding of ethnographic research beyond ethnicity, nurses can conduct research that explores patient's constructions and explanatory models of health and healing and how they make meaning out of chronic conditions and negotiate daily life. These findings can have applicability to culturally competent care at both the organizational or systems level, as well as in the patient/provider encounter. Individual patient care can be improved by applying ethnographic research findings to build provider expertise and then using a cultural negotiation process for individualized patient care.
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrated Nursing Care, School of Nursing, University of Texas Health Science Center-Houston, 6901 Bertner #764, Houston, TX 77030, USA. Joan.C.Engebretson@uth.tmc.edu
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Engebretson
mesh_terms: D000884:Anthropology, Cultural; D002983:Clinical Competence; D054521:Cultural Competency / Q000458:organization & administration*; D019468:Disease Management; D006801:Humans; D016294:Models, Nursing; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research / Q000458:organization & administration; D009742:Nursing Theory; D010347:Patient Care Planning / Q000458:organization & administration; D018802:Patient-Centered Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010687:Philosophy, Nursing; D015397:Program Evaluation; D016746:Transcultural Nursing / Q000379:methods*