| Course | NUR 302 Clinical Judgment and Holistic Assessment in Nursing |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 3 |
| Paper type | Cultural assessment short paper |
| Length | About 1,080 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Southern New Hampshire University |
| Program | RN to BSN |
| Updated | September 2026 |
Free sample paper for NUR 302 Module 3
Six Phenomena, One Prescription: A Giger and Davidhizar Cultural Assessment of a Bosnian American Woman With New Hypertension
[Student Name]
Southern New Hampshire University
NUR 302: Clinical Judgment and Holistic Assessment in Nursing
Module Three Short Paper
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The organization, setting and figures below are a composite written as a model document. No real employer, client, colleague or patient is described.
Six Phenomena, One Prescription: A Giger and Davidhizar Cultural Assessment of a Bosnian American Woman With New Hypertension
Cultural assessment is sometimes taught as a list of facts about a group, but the Giger and Davidhizar model asks for something different: a structured look at how one person communicates, uses space, organizes family life, experiences time, explains illness and differs biologically (Giger & Davidhizar, 2002). This paper applies the model to a composite patient, Mrs. H., seen at a primary care clinic three weeks after a new diagnosis of hypertension. The assessment argues that Mrs. H. has not started her medication for reasons that make sense inside her own explanation of illness, and that the nurse's task is to understand that explanation before trying to change it.
Communication
Mrs. H. is 63 and came to the United States in 1998 as a refugee from Bosnia and Herzegovina. She speaks Bosnian at home and conversational English at the bakery where she worked for twenty years. At her diagnosis visit her son interpreted, and she nodded through the explanation of her new medicine. At this visit, with a professional Bosnian interpreter on the phone, she said she had understood the word pressure but not that the pill was meant for every day. Karliner et al. (2007) reviewed 28 studies and concluded that trained interpreters, far more reliably than relatives or other ad hoc helpers, brought comprehension, error rates and outcomes for patients with limited English close to the level seen in patients without a language barrier. Her English is good enough for daily life but not for a new chronic diagnosis, and her son may have softened the message to avoid worrying her.
Space and Social Organization
Mrs. H. was comfortable with the nurse sitting close and preferred a female clinician for the physical exam, which the clinic could accommodate. Social organization carries more weight in her case. She lives with her son, his wife and two grandchildren, and she described decisions about health as family matters. Her daughter-in-law does most of the grocery shopping, and family meals are central to the week. She attends a Bosnian mosque in south St. Louis, where she has close friends from before the war. In a phenomenological study of Bosnian women refugees in the United States, Keyes and Kane (2004) described two major themes, belonging and adapting, with memories of loss existing alongside relief and a sense of safety. Mrs. H.'s community is a source of that belonging, which makes it an ally for any plan that asks her to change daily habits.
Time
Mrs. H. described herself as someone who deals with problems when they appear. She keeps appointments but does not track her own blood pressure and did not see a reason to start a pill for a condition that causes her no pain. Her orientation to the present is not carelessness; it is a reasonable approach for a person who has lived through events that made long-range planning feel pointless. For the nurse, it means that teaching framed around a stroke that might happen in ten years is less likely to land than teaching framed around how she feels this month and what her grandchildren need from her now.
Environmental Control
This phenomenon, which covers health beliefs and practices, explains the unopened prescription. Mrs. H. believes her pressure rose because of nerves: worry about a grandson and poor sleep. In her view, a daily pill treats the number but not the cause, and it is something a person could become dependent on. She has been drinking a tea her friend recommended and reducing salt in soups, and she was proud of both changes. Her sense of control is internal and practical, and she trusts remedies she can prepare herself. Helweg-Larsen and Stancioff (2008), studying Bosnian refugees in the United States, found that people who smoked saw their own risk as lower than that of other smokers and that greater acculturation was associated with higher perceived risk. Their sample was small and their topic was smoking, but the finding supports a cautious point: risk information may need to be presented in terms that fit her experience rather than assumed to carry the same meaning it does for the nurse.
Biological Variations
Biological variation in this model covers physical characteristics, susceptibility to disease and nutritional preferences. Mrs. H.'s diet is rich in bread, cured meats, pickled vegetables and cheese, several of which are high in sodium. She is a former smoker who quit when her first grandchild was born. Her body mass index is 31. These are individual findings, not group traits, and they point to the same practical targets any hypertension plan would include: sodium, weight and activity. Her pride in having already cut salt in soups is the most useful biological finding, because it shows a behavior change she started on her own.
Care Adjustments From the Assessment
Each finding suggests an adjustment. Communication: every visit about her hypertension uses a professional interpreter, and the teach-back method confirms that she understands the daily schedule in her own words. Social organization: with her permission, her daughter-in-law is invited to a visit, since she shapes the family's meals and can support sodium reduction. Time: teaching focuses on how controlled pressure protects her ability to care for her grandchildren now, and home blood pressure checks give her a present-tense way to see progress. Environmental control: the nurse acknowledges the role of stress and sleep, supports the salt reduction she began, asks what the tea contains so the provider can check for interactions, and explains the medicine as one part of a plan that also addresses her nerves. Success at two weeks would be a medication start confirmed by teach-back, a home log with readings, and an agreed plan for sleep and worry.
The assessment has a limit. Mrs. H. is one person, and the model is meant to describe her, not Bosnian Americans as a group. Her views on medicine may differ from her neighbors', and the nurse should revisit each phenomenon as the relationship develops.
Conclusion
The Giger and Davidhizar model turned an unopened prescription from a compliance problem into a set of understandable reasons: a message filtered through a family interpreter, a present-focused way of meeting problems and a belief that the cause of her pressure lies in worry rather than in her arteries. A plan built on those findings is more respectful and more likely to work than a repeated instruction to take the pill.
References
Giger, J. N., & Davidhizar, R. (2002). The Giger and Davidhizar transcultural assessment model. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 13(3), 185-188. https://doi.org/10.1177/10459602013003004
Helweg-Larsen, M., & Stancioff, L. M. (2008). Acculturation matters: Risk perceptions of smoking among Bosnian refugees living in the United States. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 10(5), 423-428. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-007-9107-1
Karliner, L. S., Jacobs, E. A., Chen, A. H., & Mutha, S. (2007). Do professional interpreters improve clinical care for patients with limited English proficiency? A systematic review of the literature. Health Services Research, 42(2), 727-754. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6773.2006.00629.x
Keyes, E. F., & Kane, C. F. (2004). Belonging and adapting: Mental health of Bosnian refugees living in the United States. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 25(8), 809-831. https://doi.org/10.1080/01612840490506392
What the NUR 302 Module 3 instructions ask for
The NUR 302 Module 3 short paper asks you to complete a cultural assessment of one patient using a recognized model, most often the Giger and Davidhizar Transcultural Assessment Model or a similar framework named in your course materials. The prompt usually expects you to address each part of the model with data from the patient, explain how cultural factors affect health beliefs and care, and propose adjustments to nursing care. Some sections supply a case and others let you choose a patient whose background differs from your own. Most versions set a length of about three to five pages and expect scholarly support, formatted in APA 7. The instructions often warn against generalizing about a group, so the paper should describe one person and use literature only to interpret what that person said and did.
How this NUR 302 Module 3 cultural assessment short paper example is built
The example follows the six phenomena of the Giger and Davidhizar model in order: communication, space, social organization, time, environmental control and biological variations. Space and social organization are combined because the data on space are brief. Each section reports what the patient said or did, then interprets it with a source where one fits, and every interpretation is tied to the clinical problem, a new prescription that has not been started. A final section converts the findings into specific care adjustments, each linked to its phenomenon and to an outcome the nurse could check in two weeks. Mrs. H., her household and the clinic are invented as a composite; the four sources behind the analysis are real.
Where the NUR 302 Module 3 rubric puts the points
SNHU rubrics for this module generally score the application of the cultural model, the analysis of how culture affects the patient's health and care, the proposed nursing adjustments, and APA and writing mechanics. Application means every part of the model is addressed with patient data, not with a textbook definition. Analysis means the paper explains why a belief or practice matters for this patient's care. The adjustment criterion rewards interventions that follow from specific findings. Papers that describe a culture accurately but never return to the patient tend to land in the middle of the scale, while papers that show a finding changing a nursing action reach the top.
NUR 302 Module 3 help: the mistakes that cost points
The biggest risk in a cultural assessment is stereotyping: writing what a group is said to believe and assuming the patient agrees. Keep every claim anchored to something your patient said or did. A second problem is skipping a phenomenon because it seemed unimportant; if data are thin, say so and explain what you would ask next. Students also lose points for care adjustments that ignore the assessment, such as generic teaching that would fit any patient. Check that each adjustment names the finding behind it. Finally, report studies accurately and note their limits, especially small qualitative samples, and use a professional interpreter in any scenario where language is a factor.
Get NUR 302 Module 3 written to your instructions
Tell us which cultural model your Module 3 instructions name, attach the rubric, and describe the patient or assigned case. Your cultural assessment is drafted against that model section by section and delivered in 24 to 48 hours, with the first sample at no cost. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Southern New Hampshire University document.
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NUR 302 Module 3 questions, answered
Where can I find a free NUR 302 Module 3 cultural assessment sample paper?
The complete example on this page is free to read. It applies all six phenomena of the Giger and Davidhizar model to a Bosnian American woman with new hypertension, with care adjustments, margin notes and APA 7 references. If your course names another model or supplies its own case, a matching custom version can be requested.
Which cultural assessment model should I use in NUR 302?
Use the one your instructions name. Giger and Davidhizar is common because its six phenomena map neatly onto a short paper. Purnell's model and Leininger's culture care theory are other options, but switching models without permission can cost points on the application criterion.
How do I avoid stereotyping in a cultural assessment?
Describe the individual, not the group. Report what your patient said and did, use literature only to interpret those findings, and include a sentence acknowledging that other members of the same community may think differently. Avoid phrases such as they believe or in their culture.
Can the patient in my NUR 302 cultural paper share my background?
Check your prompt. Some sections ask you to choose someone whose culture differs from yours so the assessment requires real inquiry. If you must use a patient with a similar background, focus on the ways their beliefs and practices differ from your own assumptions.
Do I need sources about the patient's specific culture?
Sources help when they are used carefully. One or two studies about the group, reported with their sample and limits, can support an interpretation. A source on the assessment model itself and one on a care strategy, such as professional interpretation, usually round out the reference list.