HCA 340 Cultural Diversity In Health & Illness
HCA UNIT 3
 
1. The nurse is observing a healing ceremony performed by people of the American Indian culture. What is a characteristic of this ceremony? 
 a. Sound 
b. Quiet 
c. Herbal teas 
d. Hallucinogenic plants
 
2. A patient of the American Indian culture tells the nurse that the medicine man is consulted when an illness develops. How does a person become a medicine man? 
 a. Know the interrelationships between people, the earth, and the universe 
b. Understand the ways of plants and animals 
c. Perform special ceremonies 
d. All of the above.
 
3. What is the difference between the modern physician and the medicine man when determining the cause of an illness? 
 a. The medicine man looks for the physical cause of the problem 
b. The medicine man looks for the spiritual cause of the problem 
 c. The medicine man studies the patient’s past medical history to determine the cause of the illness
 d. The medicine man studies the dietary practices of the person being seen
 
4. In which American Indian tribe are meditation and herbs used to create a trance to provide the vision of the evil that causes an illness?
 a. Hopi 
b. Sioux
 c. Navajo
 d. Cherokee
5. Which Navajo American Indian divination method will women practice to diagnose the cause of a disease? 
 a. Singing
 b. Listening 
c. Motion in the hand  
d. Stargazing
 
6. What is the purpose of sand paintings when diagnosing illness in the Navajo American Indian culture? 
 a. Creates symbolic representations of the client and family
 b. Ensures that appropriate payment is made by the family 
c. Provides an atmosphere of calm for the medicine man
 d. Determines the cause and treatment of the illness 
 
7. The nurse is conducting a medication history with a patient from the Oneida American Indian culture. Which remedies would the nurse include as part of this history? 
 a. Witch hazel 
b. Comfrey 
c. Skunk oil 
d. All of the above.
 
8. A patient that is of the American Indian culture is waiting to be seen in a non-Indian Health Service facility. What concern might this patient have about receiving health care through this route? 
 a. Conflict between his or her perception of the illness and what the physician diagnoses 
 b. Easier to receive medical care through emergency departments rather than private physicians
 c. Receive better health care from mainstream medical services 
d. Concern that medical insurance won’t cover all the medical costs 
 
9. Which action would the nurse take when assessing a patient of American Indian culture? 
 a. Remaining quiet and recognizing the importance of nonverbal communication to seek  information
 b. Asking detailed questions regarding the presenting symptoms
 c. Asking indirect questions about the reason for seeking health care 
 d. Ensuring that no one beyond the medical provider and the client discuss what has brought the client to seek care
 
10. Which is a concept of holism in traditional Chinese medicine? 
 a. Integration of the body with the external environment 
b. Energy fields that create health or disease  
c. Local pathology as separate from the body 
d. Harmonic balance that creates illness
 
11. Which action would a patient, who practices Ayurvedic medicine, take to reestablish harmony and balance in the body? 
 a. Sit in the sun 
b. Speak to a doctor 
c. Yoga
 d. Ingest a substance to cleanse the body of substances that cause disease
 
12. The nurse is planning care for a group of community members who follow Ayurveda medicine. What beliefs about this form of health care would the nurse need to keep in mind while planning this care? 
 a. All things in the universe are joined together.
 b. Human beings contain elements that can be found in the universe.
 c. All people are born in a state of balance. 
d. All of the above.
 
13. A patient of the Asian culture tells the nurse that an alteration in yin and yang will lead to disease. Which variable can affect the body’s yin and yang? 
 a. Clothing 
b. The weather  
c. Social class 
d. Improper food preparation
 
14. Why does the Chinese physician focus on palpating a patient’s pulse? 
 a. It is considered the storehouse of the blood. 
b. It indicates a specific treatment. 
c. It can help to cure a patient. 
d. It determines the time of death.
 
15. A belief of Ayurvedic medicine is the concept of doshas. What is a characteristic of this concept?
a. Combine space and air to control nutritional preferences 
b. Blend fire and water to balance mental capacities 
c. Are constantly formed and reformed by food, activity, and bodily processes  
d. Use water and earth to regulate hormonal balance 
 
 
16. While assessing the health history of a patient who is an Asian/Pacific Islander, what will the       nurse identify as a leading cause of death for people from this culture? 
 a. Malignant neoplasms 
 b. Influenza and pneumonia 
c. Alzheimer’s disease 
d. Chronic lower respiratory diseases 
 
17. Why does poor health continue to occur among immigrant Asian populations?
 a. Poor working environments and crowded living conditions 
b. Refusal of Western medicine to treat Asian immigrants 
c. Inability to tolerate Western medications
 d. Low number of health care workers of Asian origin
 
18. How would a patient from the Black culture treat poison ivy? 
 a. Sprinkling crushed bluestone powder on the affected area  
b. Placing a mixture of garlic, onions, and parsley on the site 
c. Placing clay in a dark leaf over the affected area 
d. Rubbing Vicks Vaporub on the area 
 
19. In the Black culture, what would be used to treat colds? 
 a. Sassafras tea 
b. Hot lemon water with honey 
c. Hot toddy made of tea, honey, lemon, peppermint, and alcohol 
d. All of the above.
 
20. Why are folk remedies still used today in the Black community?
 a. Tradition of quality care and treatment by healers  
b. Acknowledgement of the African heritage  
c. Rituals associated with folk remedies 
d. Close proximity of hospitals in the community
 
21. What would be a benefit of following the African food tradition of geophagy?
 a. Dirt is high in calcium 
b. Pica is an accepted cultural practice 
c. Red clay is rich in iron 
d. Starch is sweet and dry
22. For which reasons might a patient of the Black culture and of the Muslin religion refuse insulin to treat diabetes mellitus? 
 a. Because any injectable medication is forbidden
 b. If it has a pork base  
c. Because it implies the person has not led a holy life 
d. During Ramadan 
 
23. Which is a health statistic of significance to Black or African Americans when compared to all races? 
 a. A lower incidence of breast cancer 
 b. Lower percentages of low birth weight infants 
c. A lower crude birth rate
 d. Lower male death rates from homicide 
 
24. Who does the nurse recognize as being the leading authority figure within the Black familial       structure?
 a. Female 
b. Minister 
c. Male 
d. Oldest adult child 
 
25. Why would some patients of the Black culture resent using health clinics for care? 
 a. Prescription medications are given out only to those seen first. 
b. Cheaper accessible health care is regarded as demeaning. 
c. A day’s work may be lost in waiting to be seen by a physician. 
d. There are not enough clinics to focus on Black health problems.