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Learning Objective 1: Identify how beliefs surrounding Yin and Yang influence Chinese health care.
Learning Objective 2: Utilize knowledge of Chinese culture to plan nursing care for the Chinese family in the maternal newborn health care setting.
Methods: A literature review was completed using the CINAHL database, using the keywords obstetric care in China, nursing in China, prenatal care in China, and China health care. Articles that were irrelevant to the topic were eliminated.
Results: There are cultural differences that exist between China and the United States which have an affect on obstetric nursing practice. Some cultural differences are related to traditional Chinese beliefs while others arise from overpopulation and the effects that it has had on the Chinese health care system. Chinese women who deliver babies in the United States may not ask for pharmacological pain relief measures during labor, may ask to eat during labor, and may refuse ice packs for perineal pain or swelling post delivery.
Conclusion: This literature review explored the differences in obstetric nursing care practices between China and the United States. Understanding the rationale for these differences positively inpacts the nursing care offered these women when delivering babies in hospitals in the United States.