Culture has more than one definition. It can be defined as the language spoken throughout a group of people or even the beliefs practiced. In the professional field of nursing, nurses are required to do more than administer medication or change bandages on a patient. To be able to fulfill a nurse’s job requirements, a nurse must learn to be culturally competent. Cultural competency in the professional field of nursing means to care and respect the patient whether or not the health care provider is in agreement with the patient’s decisions.
I think that it is as equally important to be accepting of other cultures as well. Those from differing cultures should also seek and understand their limitations and understanding of the culture they are submerged in. As discussed in chapters four and 17 medical professionals should take cultural background into account and realize their limitations and learn to accept that the westernized way of care may not always be in the best interest of the patient.
After watching the Cultural Competence in Health care video, I learned that there are many different people I will deal with in my career as an advocate for health. One quote I really liked from the video stated, “My diversity is my strength, not my weakness”. I believe this is true because having so many different people of different cultural backgrounds opens up the opportunity for different points of view to develop new ideas. This reminds me of the activity we did in class on our first day. We were asked to simply write down what our thoughts were. What we realized upon getting our sheets back is that when you work with others, they may have an idea you had not thought about. Overall, I think this video is a good representation of the
Cultural competence can be used as a strategy to improve quality healthcare and help in getting over racial and ethnic disparities. It is only one solution to reducing racial/ethnic disparities in the healthcare systems. With that said many health care facilities are taking part in cultural competence. Although in this topic we are dealing with healthcare, cultural competence can be utilized within most businesses such as retail, the military and other government related jobs (Harris, 2011) as well as the food industry. With that said, Cultural competence has become a popular strategy within the healthcare world. Before I begin to explain how I would incorporate Cultural Competence into my work environment, I feel as though I must first explain what Cultural Competence is.
Since nurses make up the largest group of healthcare providers, nurses are affected more by the different cultures in our country. Agree that cultural competence should be a goal. It is up to nurses to try to properly take care of
Healthcare managers are responsible for ensuring that their organization has a plan or strategy that is geared toward eradicating health inequality through cultural competency. Best practices are of utmost importance in assuring cultural proficiency. Buchbinder and Shanks (2012) outlined these practices in their textbook Introduction to Healthcare Management: a diverse workforce, leadership and organizational culture that fosters cultural competence as well as human resource policies which do the same, appropriate training/education for all employees, linguistic services and materials, systems capable of tracking data with regards to health outcomes, and responding to and engaging the community (p. 321). Additionally, a Commonwealth Fund study provided a list of actions that diversity leadership should adhere to in accordance with the National Standards on Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) standards. Aside from employing a culturally diverse staff and patient services and regular re-evaluations of goals, healthcare leaders engage and report their progress to diversity goals the community (Dreachslin, 2008). Inasmuch as cultures change and evolve, it is suggested that cultural competence training be an ongoing process and that organizational policy and strategic plans be reassessed periodically for effectiveness (Buchbinder & Shanks, 2012). Time, revenue, and energy spent in interventions that do not bring the desired results is not
Cultural Competency, widely known as the ability to understand the differences between cultures and how one can assess and effectively respond to each patient’s cultural diversity. Cultural competency is something that can be applied far and wide to many different professions, but its importance is strongly present in the healthcare industry.
Health Care System and Organization, it’s very important in the health organizations become culturally competent in many ways, such as Evidence Based Practice (EBP) which means using a clear care plan that are carefully designed for the patients, and are evidence based sources of research and clinical results, and patient preferences that are comforting the patient feels and creating connections, and trusting more about their health care provers, this reduces the personal practice of this how I do gap, because patients and providers are not same beliefs most of the time, so providers need to be open to new cultural encounters, and to practice culturally based health
The Chinese have a wonderful culture filled with beauty, strength, skill, and putting their family and society over their own wants. Sometimes it may be hard to understand why this culture or any other ethnic group pick choices that are different from ours but as future health care workers, an understanding of cultural beliefs does improve the relationship between worker and patient. For example, the concept of respect for authority or those older than you is one that all follow even if they are only American-born Chinese. When treating a sick Chinese elder, health care workers need to consider the possibility of a patient not informing the family of personal illness or an objection to put their elders in long-term cares. Healthcare workers may have to at times converse with only the males in the family because traditionally, the decision makers in a Chinese family are usually the males and the woman must go to them before choosing any type of medical treatment. Lastly, a Chinese patient may usually nod their head in agreement and, to a healthcare professional in the U.S, this means that they are receiving the information we are communicating to them. But what the patient is really doing is being polite and agreeing to what you are saying yet not retaining the information at all. Thus a doctor may need to address this issue a few days after the visit in order to not scare the patient away but instead encourage questions and make sure the information about their health
There is nothing worse than being in physical pain or being ill. There are many diseases that often go untreated and this is due to people not going to the doctor. In the video Cultural Competence in Healthcare For Providers the patients interviewed knew little to no english. When they seek healthcare professionals it is because they feel ill or were hurt. When asked to reschedule some may not come back due to fear of the same situation. Cultural competency is not an optional skill to learn, it is a necessity for all dietitians and health care professional, regardless of their specialty (Curry, 2000; Sindler, 2001). When working with diverse populations we need to be able to help each and every single person when they are their most vulnerable
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.
Before one can discuss the importance of cultural competency, we must first understand what it is. But is culture? Furthermore, what is competence? To answer the first question - culture is, “the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group; also: the characteristic features of everyday existence (such as diversions or a way of life) shared by people in a place or time” (Merriam-Webster dictionary). With that understanding, what is competence? Also, according to the same source, competence is “a sufficiency of means for the necessities and conveniences of life. Now that we have broken down these two words, I will be utilizing them together to introduce the importance and downfalls of its effects on the world's (more specifically America’s) healthcare system.
The purpose of this paper is to share research information of health care organizations who are experiencing issues with Cultural Diversity. The information shared will help to support health care systems as they continuously work towards reducing health care disparities. While they continue their efforts to decrease diversity in health care governance and leadership. According to recent studies, the Institute for Diversity in Health Management, an affiliate of the American Hospital Association, found that there is about 81 percent of hospitals educated. Studies also found that all
At our hospital it is our goal is to accept diversity and cultural differences. To accomplish this I suggest that we provide training on cultural competence to all
The use of the theoretical framework known as Leininger’s Theory of Culture Care Diversity and Universality is emphasized in the nurse practitioner’s role. The theory’s 3 modes of care: culture care preservation and-or maintenance, culture care accommodation and-or negotiation, and culture care restructuring and-or repatterning are the basic components in providing culturally congruent care (51). The authors discuss being able to see the patient as a whole person, known as the Sunrise Enabler, assessing their situation, and other