German Culture: Mental and Physical Health Report

German culture is a culture of massive size. Germany sits in the middle of Europe and its population size is second in the entire continent. When speaking of the economy itself it’s the fifth largest in the world. (Zimmerman, 2015) German immigration to America started in the 1970s but by the year of 1830 the immigration surged and almost everyone in Germany who was immigrants was choosing America as their new home. Once the German immigrants settled into their new lives they started telling their families overseas about the opportunities that this land was giving people. By the year of 1854 there were around two hundred thousand immigrants in America. Overall it is said that nearly five million people left Germany and came to America for a new life during the 19th century. (Library Of Congress)

As of the year 2000 the U.S. Census put out a report saying that 46.5 million people claimed German decent in the United States. All together about seven million Germans have immigrated to North America since the eighteenth century. (W. Baker, 2004) In the nursing field there are many assessments that nurses have to do and one of those are cultural assessments. Here are some key areas that should be focused on. Communication with the German culture is very direct. They typically speak clearly and to the point to get their point across. They can come off blunt but this is just their way of ensuring they have clear communication. Also this style of communication causes them to interpret what others say literally. (Evason, 2017) With this being said if I’m the nurse I would pay close attention to what I’m saying to them because if I were to say something not entirely true they could take that literally and get the wrong impression of what I’m trying to get across to them. Also I would take into consideration for myself how they might come off to me. I would understand if I think they are being harsh or blunt that this is part of their culture and that they just want full understanding of what’s going on with them or family in a situation that could be scary for them being in the healthcare setting.

People in the German culture normally keep a distance of an arm’s length between them and sometimes even more if it is between a man and a woman that don’t really know each other that well. If you are too close to someone this can be seen as an invasion of that person’s privacy. Then when it comes to the physical side of things Germans typically don’t touch each other unless they are friends that are close. If you touch someone you don’t know this can be seen as a sexual advance. In the German culture they do say excuse me to be polite if they were to accidentally touch someone. (Evason, 2017) From the nurses’ point of view they need to make sure they aren’t standing to close during an assessment. If they are trying to get a point across it would be acceptable in their culture to touch the arm or shoulder, but only to emphasize what you are trying to say. If the nurse was to bump them or accidentally touch them the wrong way, it would be acceptable to say excuse me too them.

The German culture has always been known to be on time and that is something that they are proud of. Several things that I have looked at say that trains, buses, and even planes are almost always on time in Germany. “Nearly 85 percent of Germans say they take their appointments seriously and expect others to do the same.” (Zudeick, 2012) The basis of this culture is to basically always be early rather to be late. Nurses need to know things like this when it comes to this culture because they could get offended very easily if you decide to be late for an appointment or you might say you’ll be back at a certain time for something and come later than you originally hoped. With the German culture being so big in America it’s very important to know this as a nurse not only for them but this should be a standard for all of your other patients as well.

In terms of environmental control, the Germans have good intention but lack in the ability to actually do something about it. I read an interview about environmental awareness in Germany and Professor Kuckartz of University of Marburg said that the people in Germany have positive attitudes towards the environment and that they are very well informed but they do not rate well in terms of taking action. He said that people do good about things like using energy saving lighting and separating waste but then those same people go and board planes, “which, in terms of CO2 emissions and other adverse environmental impacts, negates everything else.” (Alumniportal Deutschland) This could be important to know from a nurse prospective because if they care about the environment at all they might want to make sure they are offered things that are environmentally friendly. Also they may want to make sure they have the proper receptacles to expose of trash the correct way if they are people that recycle.

After doing a lot of research it seems that the German culture doesn’t really have a whole lot to set them apart in terms of biological differences. Some research shows that Germans have slightly larger noses overall, they have a large bone structure, and they are taller than average. Based on just these findings it would be hard to set Germans apart from anyone else of a different culture. From a nursing prospective I think the lesson here is that you may not always know the culture someone comes from meeting them in an office or a hospital. That’s why it’s important to learn more about your patient through surveys or questions so that person can get the best overall quality of care.

There is currently a growing problem in the German culture. Life expectancy is growing and is now sitting at around eighty-one years of age. With this increase in life expectancy there is also a decline in the amount of births. “Germany has the world’s highest proportion of childless females with 30 percent of women not becoming mothers.” (Vanderlinden, 2009) Along with this the total fertility rate is 1.3. In order to maintain the current population that number needs to be at 2.1. This decline of “birth-to-death ratio yields an annual population loss of 100,000.” (Vanderlinden, 2009) This is such an issue because the retired population is growing and the working people are shrinking. The infant mortality rate last year was 3.2 deaths per thousand live births. All of this information is important in a nursing assessment to understand the overall health of the community. Longer life expectancy and lower mortality rates shows overall health and is a good indicator of available heath intuitions for that group of people. If those numbers were to change, we would want to do something to lower them and find out where that problem was coming from. The family size in this culture is also shrinking. This is due to different things like a rising divorce rate, mothers who have children and are unmarried, and the new type of partnerships that we have so much of now. More and more women are choosing to not have children and to focus more on their careers as men would. These reasons now get into gender roles which I will talk about later.

There are some important notes to take in about German culture socialization. When it comes to having and raising children we know from above that more and more women are not having children. “Since 1986, the Federal Republic of Germany has provided for the payment of Kindergeld (child-raising benefits) to families or single parents with children.” (Eidson, 2018) This last for the children’s whole childhood up until their 18th birthday and in some cases their 27th birthday. I think that they implemented this as a benefit so more people would want to have kids. Adolescence now days think outside the box. With an increase in crime and economic struggles they want the world to be a better place. There were interviews conducted of German teens and the group overall agreed that violence is something that needs to come to an end. Adolescence are surrounded by technology and sometimes need a break. This age group before wanted nothing more to just be online or play games.

Now, “some have turned to cooking or gardening as ways of giving themselves some downtime from their smartphones.” (DPA/The Local, 2016) The rites of passage for German culture are much like that of a lot of other groups. They undergo “religious rituals, like baptism, first communion, confirmation, and marriage.” (Countries and their Culture) They also celebrate things that the student does in school and have parties for them, for instance their graduation. These are important from a nursing standpoint to better understand your patients and have some sort of relatability to them. Sometimes knowing things about someone’s culture can go a long way just so you can have a conversation about things that are relevant to them. Gender roles in the German culture are changing.

As I stated above that there are more and more women not having children. This is due to the changing of gender roles and females wanting to be more involved in the workforce. In return women aren’t doing things in this culture that used to be stuck to them like the three k’s which are “Kinder (children), Kirche (church), and Küche (kitchen)” (Countries and their Culture) Something that I found interesting is that “women spent nearly double as much time on household chores and child care as men. Domestic work and nurturing children remain the responsibility of women, even when they work outside the home.” (Annett Wilde, 2005) I also found that “although parental leave was introduced in Germany in 1986, men make up roughly only 2% of those who take parental leave.” (Annett Wilde, 2005) All of this tells me that women are evolving in German culture and men are pretty much staying the same. Women are taking on twice the work with having to take care of children and also to have a job of their own. Maybe there is correspondence here why we are seeing a drop in the birth rate in the German culture. We also still see a difference in certain jobs that are female dominated like office workers, teachers, hair dressers, and nurses. This is important to know from a nurse’s perspective to understand how the family model works with this culture. Anything we know is better so we do not offend people we are taking care of.

There are some family stresses when it comes to this culture. Most of the households are nuclear families. These families are shrinking because more and more people are getting divorced or they are deciding to not even get married and stay in de facto relationships. There is also a rise in LGBTQ relationships. This causes stress on children growing up in split homes or just having parents who aren’t married. There is also a rise in domestic violence. “According to the BKA's figures, in 2015, a total of 127,457 people in relationships were targets of murder, bodily harm, rape, sexual assault, threats and stalking” (Made for Minds, 2016) This shows that about 82 percent of these people were women in the German culture. This also causes stress on families and their children. This could also be a reason for the rise in divorces. These types of things are important in an assessment because if we notice anything or our patients tell us about this type of abuse or stresses we can get them help. This is all part of their mental health and their wellbeing and it’s our duty to take care of that.

Most of Germans have some sort of religious belief. Most of the population considers themselves a part of Lutheran Protestantism and or the Roman Catholic Church. Most of the south and west is Catholic and the north and east are protestant. There are some parts of the east that considers themselves to be atheist and have no religion. Other than that there are other religions that make up a smaller population of Methodist, Baptist, and even Mennonites. (Bernstein, 2004) Although this doesn’t make up every religion in the German culture these are the ones that are most prominent. This is good to know from a nursing prospective so that we know when we are taking care of this culture we can make sure we know specific practices by each of these religions to better understand how to provide the best care that we can.

Throughout the German culture the Germans themselves like and prepare a lot of the same food. Each part of the culture has different ways to prepare the same foods. They eat a lot of meals that have big portions of breads and meat. They also eat a lot of potatoes and one meal they eat includes pears, bacon, and beans. With that being said you will see a lot of fruit being put into German food instead of vegetables. The German culture has hundreds of different types of sausage and they really like drinking crafted beers. The German cultures diet is hearty and heavy. (Bernstein, Culture and Customs of Germany, 2004) This is important to a nurse to know what types of foods they eat and what kinds of nutrients they are getting from those foods.

There are many familial risk factors and health behaviors in the German culture. The most severe problems that Germans face are cardiovascular disease, cancer and neurological disorders. The deadliest risk factors that Germans have are high systolic blood pressure, dietary risks, and tobacco smoke. The deadliest sources of harm were ischemic heart disease, stroke, and Alzheimer’s disease along with other forms of dementia. These are all things that we as nurses need to know to provide better care. A lot of the problems that Germans have are related to their diet. We can help prevent heart disease and blood pressure problems with a healthier eating style. Eating more fruits and vegetables can decrease these risks along with eating fish at least twice a week. We can also try to slow down their drinking habits because history tells us this culture is one that does enjoy drinking. Also we can teach against tobacco use and explain and show things that are happening to their body. Smoking alone is a huge risk factor for many diseases and health problems that we see today.