Interview someone from a different cultural background than your own to learn how his or her culture:

• Perceives illness, including the meaning, causes, and treatment,
• Views both acute and chronic illnesses.
• Determine how his or her culture tends to view nurses.
• Discuss how the perceptions of the interviewee influence his or her health behavior, including when he or she seeks help and the type of practitioner he or she consults.
• From your perspective of a nurse, describe how his or her perceptions differ from your professional perspectives.

Chronic illness is the number one health care problem in the United States. However, the health care system has been slow to adapt from a focus on acute conditions. There are similarities and differences between acute and chronic illness. Acute illnesses are usually isolated to one bodily area and respond to treatment. In contrast, long-term conditions frequently involve multiple systems and have an uncertain future. Acute and chronic illnesses are similar in that coping with any health problem, depending on the severity of the condition and the resources available, is a challenge to those afflicted. Chronic illness usually requires more care and resources to maintain normalization in lifestyle. The predominate need of a person with a chronic illness is nursing care. Consequently, nurses have a vital role to fulfill in helping people who have long-term conditions and their family caregivers cope with the illness.

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