The United States Census Bureau (2000) estimates
that 62% of the population has European origins.
This number is expected to continue to decrease as
more U.S. residents trace their ancestry to Africa,
Asia, or the Arab or Hispanic worlds in the future.
Nurses must be prepared to care for this culturally diverse population, and that includes being aware of
cultural differences that influence mental health and
the treatment of mental illness. See Chapter 7 for a
discussion of cultural differences.
Diversity is not limited to culture; the structure
of families in the United States has changed as well.
With a divorce rate of 50% in the United States, single
parents head many families, and many blended
families are created when divorced persons remarry.
Twenty-five percent of households consist of a single
person (Wright, 1995), and many people live together
without being married. Gay men and lesbians form
partnerships and sometimes adopt children. The face
of the family in the United States is varied, providing
a challenge to nurses to provide sensitive, competent
care.
