Daijiworld Medias Network—Udupi (RD/CN)
 
Udupi, Nov 11: “We live in a world where physical boundaries are irrelevant, so we should be well-versed with tradition, culture, and language of the client to whom we provide care,” said Dr Ramdas M Pai, chancellor of Manipal University.
 
He was speaking after inaugurating the ‘International Conference on Transcultural Nursing’ at Syndicate Bank Golden Jubilee Auditorium, Manipal, on Wednesday November 10. The two-day conference was organized by Manipal College of Nursing, Manipal, Mangalore, and Bangalore.

He also said that medical professionals need to value beliefs and cultural diversities to give quality care to patients. 
 
Manipal University pro chancellor Dr H S Ballal said that nurses should accept cultural diversities when dealing with the patients. “Nurses spend more time with patients than doctors. They provide comfort and counseling to patients. Good nursing is the best advertisement for a hospital than any other marketing strategy. Even when patients do not behave, nurses should not lose their patience and take care of them,” he said. 
 
Dr G K Prabhu said that one of the effective way of teaching and learning is organizing conferences like this.
 
Dr Basanti Majumdar, professor of Health Sciences School of Nursing McMaster University, D. Anice George, dean of Manipal College of Nursing, Manipal, and Dr Christopher Sudhaker, dean of Manipal College of Nursing, Mangalore, were also present.
 
The scientific sessions began on Thursday with a keynote address by Dr Irena Papadopoulos, founder and head of the Research Centre for Transcultural Studies in Health, Middlesex University, UK.
 
“Transcultural nursing can be the vehicle which will help the nurses and other health professionals deal with inequalities and de-humanizing uncaring practices where they exist,” said Dr Papadopoulos.
 
She also added that the nursing challenge during this decade is to re-establish compassion at the core of nursing and nurses need to find out various ways to address and eliminate health inequalities.
 
Dr Sue Dyson, principal lecturer, DE Montfort University, London, discussed three interconnected studies undertaken with students from minority ethnic groups.  She concluded that nursing teachers need to translate the awareness of cultural context into improved educational experiences for the students and students need to learn from each other for their mutual benefit.
 
A session on Indian culture and health care was dealt by Suvarna Nalapat.