According to Andrews & Boyle (2008), transcultural nursing is the unification of nursing and anthropology. Anthropology deals with the study of behaviors, origins, customs, development and relationship of human beings. Principles of transcultural nursing have enabled health care professionals to examine various aspects of health care delivery. For instance, transcultural nursing enables nurses to understand the influence of space and perception of time on the health of clients from different cultural backgrounds. This discussion will consider how the Chinese’s perceptions of space and time influence a patient’s health.
Space refers to the area that surrounds a person’s body. This is a dynamic entity and people’s perception of space varies between cultures. For instance, people from the Chinese culture do not have problems with crowding together, especially at public facilities like healthcare centers (Seneviratne, Mather, & Then, 2009). Therefore, the Chinese have a high likelihood of contracting airborne diseases. This is unlike the Westerners, who feel comfortable when they have a large personal space around them.
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Perception of time is another aspect that nurses should consider during their practice because people perceive time differently depending on culture. For instance, the Chinese are past oriented because they value traditional values and beliefs. Research has shown that the Chinese are always reluctant to trying new treatment techniques (Seneviratne, Mather, & Then, 2009). They fail to understand that some infections require new and advanced intervention measures. Therefore, new infections may be disastrous to the Chinese patients when they stick to traditional techniques of treatment.