Home Visits in Rural Nicaragua: A Transcultural Primary Care Experience

Abstract

The focus of the health care delivery system in the United States has shifted from an emphasis on acute care delivery and hospital-based care settings to disease prevention and modification of lifestyle. More nurses are focusing on primary care and health promotion. The nurse practitioner (NP) role was developed in response to an increased need for access to primary care. NPs integrate clinical knowledge with the knowledge of community resources. With the development of multicultural communities and the increase in the diversity of our population, health professionals need to develop more cultural sensitivity. What better way to understand the needs of clients and the culture from which they come than to assess them in their natural environment? This article will describe a family NP clinical practicum in the rural mountainous region of Nicaragua and how home visits were used as an integral part of the NP transcultural primary care experience.