ELECTIVE PLACEMENT IN ROMANIA: A COMPARISON BETWEEN

BRITISH AND ROMANIAN ATTITUDE TO THERAPEUTIC RELATIONSHIP

AMALIA ROSOIU
ELECTIVE PLACEMENT IN ROMANIA: A COMPARISON BETWEEN BRITISH
AND ROMANIAN ATTITUDE TO THERAPEUTIC RELATIONSHIP

▪ To compare the differences between Romanian and British primary healthcare

system in relation to the attitudes to therapeutic relationship and cultural
competence

▪ OBJECTIVES
▪ To demonstrate awareness of cultural differences between Romanian and British
primary healthcare system
▪ To develop an understanding of how a more culturally sensitive and less
ethnocentric service could be created
▪ To clarify own personal/cultural/professional values
ROMANIAN POPULATION 1ST JANUARY 2016
19.310.216
Population
100
88.9
90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10 6.5
3.3 1.3
0
Romanians Hungarians Roma Other nat.
 WHAT IS A THERAPEUTIC RELATIONSHIP
NMC(2015)
• Nurses should always uphold the
patients respect, always treat people
as individuals and respect their
dignity.
• Nurses should respect patient
confidentiality, and uphold it at all
times
• Consent is very important in patient
care, NMC states the every adult
must be presumed to have the
mental capacity to consent or refuse
treatment.
RCED(2009)
• In any giving situation the right of
the patient and the public health will
prevail;
• Any medical intervention will be
provided to the highest standard of
quality;
• Communicate with the patient in an
appropriate manner, with a
respectful language, with no jargon,
 WHAT IS CULTURAL COMPETENCE
NMC(2015) RCED(2009)

• Nurses and midwives • Nursing professionals

need to be culturally
sensitive and overcome
their own cultural beliefs
when caring for patients,
ensuring the provision of
person centred care.
must not discriminate
based on race, sex, age,
ethnicity, religion,
political views or
personal beliefs.
CASE STUDY

▪ In line with the NMC (2015) for confidentially and protection, I am going to name
him Peter;
▪ 35 years old
▪ Peter has a problem with drug misuse
ROMANIAN POPULATION 1ST JANUARY 2016
19.310.216
Religion
100

90 86.5

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10 4.6 3.2 1.8 3.6

0.2
0
Orthodox Roman Catholic Reformed Catholics Penticostals Atheist Other religions
THE PAPADOPOULOS, TILKI AND TAYLOR MODEL FOR
DEVELOPING CULTURAL COMPETENCE (1996) IN
PAPADOPOULOS (2006)
LEARN
▪ A very good model for conducting a cultural assessment was introduced by Berlin
and Fowkes (1992).
▪ Listening to our patient view and perceptions on their condition
▪ Explain our view and opinion
▪ Acknowledge the similarities and differences that might appear
▪ Recommendations which must suit the patients’ needs
▪ Negotiate the treatment plan making sure we incorporate the knowledge of cultural
competence in our treatment.
SUMMARIZE
▪ I found myself challenged by Peter’s case because I did not knew how to deal with
his admission of drug misuse as I did not expect it to be a problem.
▪ In Romania drug treatments are funded from the public budget being free. The
inpatient treatment system network consists of detoxification units in Mental
Health Hospitals which is not very widespread and are only available if people live in
one of the major cities. The outpatients system provides integrated care throughout
a network of Drug Prevention, Education and Counselling Centres. Providing the
best care for Peter will be to empower him with the best of my knowledge and
allow him to make the informed decision of how he would like his care to be. Not by
imposing on him something what, I, as the practitioner feel would be the best for
him.
CONCLUSION
▪ Throughout our lives and because of the different environment we became exposed
as practitioners, we develop a set of culturally generic competencies that are
applicable across cultural groups and which we can use to put together the best
care for any patient.
REFERENCES
▪ Boston, P. (1993) ‘Culture and cancer: the relevance of cultural orientation within cancer education programmes’. European Journal of Cancer Care, 2,
pp. 72-76.

▪ Campinha-Bacote, J.,(2002) ‘The Process of Cultural Competence in the Delivery of Healthcare Services: A Model of Care’. Journal of Transcultural
Nursing, 13(3), pp.181-184.

▪ European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug addiction (2017) Romania Country Drug Report 2017. Lisbon: Office for Official Publications of the
European Communities.

▪ Halldorsdottir, S. (2008) ‘The dynamics of the nurse-patient relationship: introduction of a synthesized theory from the patient’s perspective’
Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences. 22(4),pp. 643-652.

▪ National Institute of Statistics (2016) Romanian Population at 1st January 2016. Available at: http://www.insse.ro/cms/ro/content/popula%C5%A3ia-
rom%C3%A2niei-pe-localitati-la-1-ianuarie-2016

▪ Nursing and Midwifery Council (2015) The Code: Professional standards of practice and behaviour for nurses and midwives. London: NMC. Available at:
http://www.nmc.org.uk/globalassets/sitedocuments/nmc-publications/revised-new-nmc-code.pdf accessed on 23/09/2017.

▪ Ordinul Asistenţilor Medicali Generalişti, Moaşelor şi Asistenţilor Medicali din România (The order of Nurses and Midwifes from Romania) Available at:
http://www.oamr.ro/despre-noi/codul-de-etica-si-deontologie/ Accessed: 14.10.2017

▪ Papadopoulos, I. (2006) ‘The Papadopoulos, Tilki and Taylor model of developing cultural competence’ in Papadopoulos, I. (Ed) Transcultural health and
social care: development of culturally competent practitioners. China: Elsevier, pp. 7-24.

▪ Papadopoulos, I., Tilki, M., and Lees, S. (2004) ‘Promoting cultural competence in health care through a research based intervention in the UK’. Diversity
in Health and Social Care, 1 (2). pp. 107-115.