Conceptions of Community Health Nurses Regarding Low-Income Black, Mexican American, and White Families: Part 2

Abstract

Using a descriptive survey design, an investigation of the accuracy of community health nurses' conceptions of low-income black, Mexican American, and white family lifestyles and health care patterns was conducted. It was hypothesized that there would be a difference in the health care delivery problems among low-income, ethnic-minority families identified by community health nurses. The data were collected by mail questionnaire from 224 randomly selected subjects. The respondents neither agreed nor disagreed with stereotypes of low-income black, Mexican American, and white families - they were indecisive. The participants did not identify significantly different problems in delivering nursing care to the three ethnic classes (p > .05). The findings suggest that community health nurses in the sampled population have inadequate knowledge of ethnic-class family life-styles, which could contribute to patient noncompliance with health care plans.