Health Professionals Should Gain A Deeper Understanding Of Cultures

The increasing population of immigrants in the United States has contributed to health disparities in the health care system. Cultural competence can remove health disparities by eliminating personal biases, and treating every person with respect. Simply recognizing and accepting different cultures is not enough, one must be able to consistently recognize and understand the differences in order to be culturally competent. Knowledge and culturally competent practices are a must for nurses to deliver quality care in our rapidly changing multicultural world (Edelman, 2014 p. 25).

Cultural competency aids in closing the “disparities gap” in health care. ("OMH," 2012, para. 2) In doing so, health professionals and their clients are better able to discuss concerns without cultural differences getting in the way of effective communication and problem solving. Being respectful of and sensitive to the client’s health beliefs, culture, values, and diverse needs can bring positive outcomes within treatment and patient care. After all, is it not the main job of the health care provider to ensure patient trust? Open forms of communication when dealing with client issues can only be provided if the patient is comfortable with his provider and believes his

Cultural competence in health care describes the ability to provide care to patients with diverse values, beliefs and behaviors, including tailoring health care delivery to meet patients’ social, cultural and linguistic needs. The need for healthcare systems to increase cultural competence and personalize care for ethnic patient minorities should not be ignored. Healthcare systems should promote better understanding and communication between diverse ethnic patients and caregivers. Hospitals should design a system that caters to the needs of all the populations they serve and not just apply a one-size-fits-all approach. Becoming a culturally competent health care organization is a critical component in reducing health care disparities.

Cultural competency is becoming essential in American healthcare with the increasing and diversification of immigration. The Department of Homeland Security, 2014 statistics indicates over 750,000 immigrants received naturalization in the US. These naturalized citizens represent over 20 countries varying from Hispanic, Indian, Asian, African, and Middle Eastern cultures. A change in the way American healthcare treats these cultures is necessitated to provide efficient care and achieve positive outcomes. Douglas et al. (2014) guidelines are to empower patients to help diminish the inequities of their own healthcare. The guidelines for culturally competent care are meant to guide the nurse, nurse educators, and nurse managers in their competent treatment of persons of other cultures. These guidelines mandate a nurse use education, self-assessment and reflection, and diversification of the workforce to meet the demands. The ten guidelines are knowledge of culture, education and training in culturally competent care, critical reflection, cross-cultural communication, culturally competent practice, cultural competence in health care systems and organizations, patient advocacy and empowerment, multicultural workforce, cross-cultural leadership, and evidence-based practice and research.

As a future healthcare professional, developing cultural competence is necessary in order to be effective in the task of creating a safe environment for our patients where they can tell their story and receive the care they need. Health disparities are characterized by differences in the incidence, prevalence, mortality, and disease burden to specific populations groups in the United States (Raingruber, 204). These health disparities may be contributable to a number of factors such as age, gender, educational attainment, socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, and a myriad of other factors (Raingruber, 2014). In order to meet the challenge of reducing health disparities and improving the overall health care system, nurses must make efforts to engage and understand their patients from the frame of reference of their patient’s culture (Raingruber, 2014).

Miscommunication, medication errors, and lack of compliance commonly occur in the healthcare field. These are just a few of the errors that occur due to the patient being from a different culture than the physician or healthcare worker. Those three errors alone have a huge impact on our healthcare today. If we could have a better understanding of other cultures that are different from our own we could have a dramatic decrease in errors and a great increase in healthcare participation. Training must be completed and must be done in more than one way. The first step is to make sure that all physicians and health care workers get the same nationwide training that focuses on improving cultural competence. How this is completed must be done in more than one way (Horwitz, 2001).

Cultural competence is the knowledge, skills and attitudes of the individual health care professionals when they treat individual patients who are from different race, ethnicity, and religion and diverse backgrounds. In the U.S, some patients receive equal treatment in the health care facilities, but others receive unequal treatment because they are from diverse backgrounds. In the article, “Cultural Clues” Melissa Hansen focuses on the importance of culturally competent workforce- (nurses, technicians, and doctors) who can recognize cultural differences to allow effective communication with patients. The culturally competent health care workers also include the community health workers- (community health promoters, village health workers, and lay health advisers). In fact, the lack of understanding between the healthcare workers and patients is results in an estimated one-third of patients who do not adhere to prescribed medication regimens. This condition leads not only to serious complication and more hospitalizations, but also is costing the U.S. health system an estimated $100 billion to $290 billion every year (Hansen 22). Necessarily, the health care workforce needs to improve this state to reduce disparities.

As the United States population continues to follow the trend of increasing diversity, the need for more culturally competent healthcare professionals increases as well. According to some of the leading experts in health care policy, cultural competency in health care can be described as the ability of systems and/or healthcare professionals to provide care to patients with diverse values, beliefs, and behaviors, including tailoring delivery to meet patients’ social, cultural, and linguistic needs (Betancourt, J.R., Green, A.R., & Carrillo, J.E., 2002). These researchers assert that there are essentially three specific barriers to cultural competency in the health care setting: lack of diversity in health care’s leadership and workforce, poorly designed systems of care that fall short of meeting the needs of diverse patient populations, and poor communication between providers

Culture and values are standards that influence and shape human behaviors, decision making processes, personal relationships, and status of health and happiness. The United States has become a symbol of a multicultural society representing many different ethnicities and minority groups. As our culture continues to grow rapidly so is the necessity to increase awareness, understanding, and tolerance of these diverse groups. As health care providers we must understand the basic needs of our patients,

Cultural competency is an important factor when working with patients in health care, however to be culturally competent, is to understand and communicate with your patient to feel cared for and understand that you’re there to help and not judge. Utilizing Cultural competency to your advantage to promote better results with patients that include, participation, learning, and higher attendance.

Out of the five component of culturally proficient practice I think that cultural awareness is the most important one. It is the starting point upon which all others are built upon. One must make a thorough evaluation of their selves. They must be abreast of their own beliefs, values and cultural disposition. If one does not know who they really are, how can they define someone else. They need to be cognizant of others cultural beliefs and health practice. No one should think that their beliefs and practices supersedes all others. If a provider tries forcing his beliefs on others with different beliefs this will create a situation for ineffective health care. This can create more stress and distress along with distrust. The goal to heal

Linguistic, ethnic and religious diversity of Australia is continuously growing and overseas migrations now taken a huge part, approximately two-third, of Australia’s population growth in 2013. While settling in different country, adopting a new lifestyle and different culture would be a big challenge for the refugees and migrants. Thereby, they are at high risk of developing mental health issues through the whole process of resettlement as a result of the barriers of accessing psychological and physical supports, language problems, cultural isolation due to relocation and sudden changes in socioeconomic status. (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2014; Government of Western Australia, 2017).

As future healthcare professionals, it is our job to continue to enhance the systems approach to diversity and cultural competence in every healthcare team/setting in which we take part. Throughout this course, we have learned the importance of becoming educated and more empathetic towards the cultures and backgrounds of our treated patients. This greater understanding of specific populations and their beliefs/traditions allows for a more well-rounded, health-based relationship between patients and their providers. Establishing a rapport with clients is just as essential to overall wellness than the actual service provided by healthcare professionals. In the field of healthcare, “…fundamental change to the status quo will not happen without the active involvement of

On the same note, it must be reiterated that developing a culturally competent workforce will play a major role. Although it is possible to implement standards, so as to be effective, the first task for healthcare providers would understand how to adapt their practice in order to effectively manage aspects connected with culture and health. Moreover, they have to provide patient-centered care in a manner that is efficient. As far as Park et al (2011) are concerned, providers who are culturally competent should be able to negotiate care in a bid to bridge cultural norms, behaviors and practice. Furthermore, this must be done to adapt care provided to particular contexts. In this regard, it is important to ensure that standards reflect the global, national and regional policies. The focus must also be placed on submissions that completely and effectively address health needs of their population and health standards, irrespective of geographical area. As a result, O'Connell et al (2013) believe providers will create a workforce and a system of healthcare delivery that can provide exceptional care to each patient regardless of differences like race and language

It is evident that United States of America is a racially and ethnically diverse country. This diversity can contribute to healthcare challenges for nurses and providers that may decrease the quality of care for patients. It becomes more challenging when a culture’s health beliefs and practices contradict with the nurse’s own beliefs and practices. It is an integral role of a nurse to assess and identify a patient’s culture and health-related beliefs and concerns to provide maximum care of that particular patient. Filipino culture consists of health practices, perceptions, and beliefs that are not similar to U.S. culture. Serafica (2011) discusses on his article entitled, Concept Analysis of Acculturation in Filipino Immigrants Within Health Context, the Filipino immigrants’ level of acculturation in America in relation to “incorporating acculturation issues into nursing and healthcare.” Knowing the levels of acculturation will help the nurses and providers in addressing Filipino health problems in the hospital settings.