Culturally Competent Nursing Care Paper

The term culture is defined as “the thoughts, communications, actions, customs, beliefs, values, and institutions of racial, ethnic, religious, or social groups” (Potter & Perry, 2013). With the increase of culturally diverse populations in the United States, it is important for nurses to practice cultural competence. Cultural competence is the ability to acquire specific behaviors, skills, attitudes, and policies in a system that permits “effective work in a cross-cultural setting” (OMH, 2013). Being culturally competent is essential because nurses who acknowledges and respects a patient’s health beliefs and practices are more likely to have positive health outcomes (OMH, 2012). Every culture has certain views and attitudes concerning

Cultural diversity is very pertinent in nursing today. As the population increases, the patient population will become more culturally diverse. Although, the nursing staff has become more culturally diverse, nursing does have enough culturally competent staff. In a society that individuals expect, and demand his or her cultural practices and beliefs be known and respected, nurse have to become more aware of cultures other than their own. Nurses understand that cultural differences are not just a person’s ethnicity or place of origin. Cultural difference is gender, race, religion, physical size, sexual orientation, age, disability, political orientation, socio-economic status, occupational status (McClimens, Brewster, & Lewis,

Patients come from many different multicultural groups which means they do not look like, talk like, feel like, and respond like the nurses who are providing them with care. Helping nurses to become culturally sensitive to their patient’s diversity may be beneficial in producing positive patients’ outcomes. There is a strong connection between nurses being knowledgeable about a person’s culture and their ability to provide quality, competent patient care (Vogel, 2016). Nurses must come to understand the real lived experience of the patients that they are taking care of. Knowledge about cultural diversity within the health care field is essential for registered nurses in caring for patients. A culturally competent nurse must develop cultural sensitivity. Each patient must be assessed individually; no cultural assumptions should be made about a patient's beliefs or health practices. Nurses are faced with a challenge to provide individualized and holistic care for an ever increasing multicultural population. Vogel (2016) noted that understanding patients' cultural differences, their values, traditions, life styles, customs, and history are paramount in eliminating health care disparities and providing high-quality patient care. Moss, Seifert, and O'sullivan (2016) reported that nurses are able to provide effective and appropriate care when a patient's cultural practice is understood. It is important for nurses to understand the cultural diversity of

With the large increase multicultural population in the United States, nurses encounter patients with differences in healthcare beliefs, values and customs. To provide adequate nursing care, nurses must be aware of these differences. They must respect and acknowledge the patient’s culture. To do this, nurses need education on cultural competence to ensure patient satisfaction and better patient outcomes.

You may not like how the Presidential election turned out, but the victory of the Democrats was won partly by focusing on going after the Hispanic vote. The Hispanic population who voted for President Obama put him over the top to win. Hispanics identified with Obama. Somehow, he made a connection with this culture. Nursing can use that lesson to improve cultural sensitivity and provide respectful care of our numerous cultures. Every American makes up this country regardless of heritage. This country was built from immigrants from all over the

We live in a very diverse nation and overcoming challenges related to cultural beliefs and preferences is a very common obstacle for health care workers today. In an article in The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing cultural diversity is defined as being more than just race,

The concept of cultural diversity is very near and dear to my heart, especially since I am of a mixture of races. Growing up in a Cuban/Jamaican household has definitely posed challenges for me throughout my life journey. Now, as a nurse I have a better understand on how cultural diversity can play a huge part in patient care. As the world is changing and people are marrying cultures together, it is imperative that we become sensitive to the needs of others in a world of diverse backgrounds.

Not only is nursing mostly white, but it is also mostly female. “Men do not belong in nursing. I refuse to precept him. Men do not remain as floor nurses longer than a year. I refuse to precept him. Men do not have the capacity to offer empathy. I refuse to precept him.” These were my welcoming statements during my first day as a floor nurse, the youngest and least senior nurse agreed to train me, and I was grateful. Diversity in nursing either by gender or culture is not prevalent in America as of yet.

As the population of the United States continues to become more diverse, healthcare providers should effectively communicate with each patient regardless of their culture, nationality, religion or socioeconomic status. Nurses and other providers should be delivering patient centered care that is culturally competent. “Culture also includes the integrated pattern of thoughts, communications, actions, customs, beliefs, values, and institutions associated, wholly or partially, with racial, ethnic, or linguistic groups, as well as with religious, spiritual, biological, geographical, or sociological characteristics” (Lamb, 2014, p. 132). Nurses are caring for a wide variety of culturally diverse

A current issue in the nursing profession is the diversity within the workforce. For this purpose, the term diversity includes age, race, and gender. Two centuries ago, American nurses were predominantly white, women, and retired in their sixties. Currently, people of all races, ages, and gender work in the nursing profession. However, America’s diverse population should correspond to a diverse nursing profession, but it is not.

Obtaining cultural information and utilizing this knowledge ensures cultural competence. In order for nurses to be culturally proficient they must understand both their and their patients' perception of the world, while preventing stereotyping. Nurses portray cultural competence in nursing practice as a continual development working towards achieving a set goal of effectively working with a range of culturally diverse people while still displaying awareness of cultural diversity during care. Effective nursing practice and cultural competence consists of nurses constantly aiming to provide care within the cultural limitations of their patients. An understanding of cultural diversity is vital in all aspects of nursing as it is critical that nurses understand and recognize differences within an individual and not contribute to stereotyping.

You are right when you state that nurses need to make sure that all patients receive the same quality of care even though there is a cultural diversity between patient and nurse. The professional nurse can be identified by the way she handles cultural diversity. If the nurse has done a cultural self assessment, then she can proceed in delivering culturally congruent nursing care by viewing what is needed for the patient through what the patient’s culture dictates and not her own. Another part of the professional nurse is that she treats those who are culturally diverse no differently then those who are of the same culture. This is very difficult to do since we are creatures of habit, but that is what separates the average nurse and the professional nurse (Andrews & Boyle, 2015).

I think the patient’s ethnic background should be inquired from the admission including their religion, preferences of food, care, prayers etc. In our surroundings, majority of the patients are from Hispanic and African American culture. The first obstacle the nurses face is language barrier. For Spanish speaking and patients with other language, the nursing home should have available language line to interpret. But sometimes, it's hard to interpret some topics with the language line and employees who knows other language is not around. As a nurse, I try my best to accommodate their needs with appropriate available interpreter with professional attitude. Secondly, some part of world such as Middle East and Asian women's might not be comfortable

Transcultural nursing has become a key component in Healthcare and a requirement for today 's practicing nurses because of the soaring multicultural phenomenon occurring in our American population. According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census (2000), over 30% of the total population, or one out of every three persons in the United States (U.S.), is comprised of various ethnicities other than non-Hispanic Whites. This statistic highlights that the U.S. has a significant multicultural population today.

The United States is a country comprised of dozens of different cultures. The definition of this nation has, at its basis, a strong element of diversity. From its incipience as a country, the U.S. has thus promoted, above all, acceptance of all cultures, and has taken unique elements from these cultures and placed them towards building a varied, strong, and accepting society. Today, the nursing field is one of the few that must be aware of differences in ethnicities, creeds, and other elements, that often lead to the need for specialized, culturally aware, care. This care is given by hundreds of nurses all around the country, yet it takes quite a long time to teach the complex elements of diversity to future nurses, as most of these can only be learned through interaction and practice. This paper will examine the various components of how cultural diversity is delivered in nursing care, and how much the field has changed because of this particular element throughout the years.