Integrating Cultural Competence to Nursing Methods

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).

In rural Iowa, there are few individuals who are knowledgeable of the Hispanic culture due to the small number of Hispanic individuals that have sought out care in the past. Recently, there has been an influx the number of Hispanic Americans seeking care in this area, making the delivery of culturally sensitive communication and care an important topic. According to DeNisco & Barker (2016), the nature of nursing care encompasses the need to be aware of cultural diversity (p. 581). Meaning that nurses need to strive for cultural competence to reach the societies expectations in the delivery of nursing care (DeNisco & Barker, 2016). We are going to take a look at how nurses can make a few changes that will make providing culturally competent care to the Hispanic population easier in these settings.

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 competence is defined as possessing the skills and knowledge necessary to appreciate, respect, and work with individuals from different cultures. It is a concept that requires self-awareness, awareness and understanding of cultural differences, and the ability to adapt to clinical skills and practices as needed

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.

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.

The first step to properly caring for a patient is acceptance. A nurse must accept the fact that not everyone is the same. Communities consist of many diverse ethnicities and spiritual practices. A nurse has to learn how to throw out all the judge mental thoughts of an individual and try to view the situation through the eyes of the patient. To be culturally competent in the professional practice of nursing, a health care worker must show respect. Health care workers cannot force a patient to go through with a procedure. The individual must respect the wishes of the patient to deny medical care whether it be because of spiritual reasons or just fear of the unknown. Most importantly, a health care worker must be culturally competent in order to avoid misdiagnosis of a patient. Judging a

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.

Unfortunately, the lack of culturally competent healthcare providers such as nurses, leads to negative patient outcomes and low quality healthcare. Culturally competent nurses are required to adequately treat our culturally diverse population. Nurses are frontline patient advocates and education and training in cultural competence is an intervention that will implement positive changes in healthcare delivery in the U.S.

As the United States becomes more and more culturally diverse one cannot help but be exposed to various cultures and worldviews. America has long been called the melting pot, and that term has never been truer than it is today. According to Green and Reinckens (2013) the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that by the year 2041 the U.S. population will be a majority minority. In other words, less than half of the population will be non-Hispanic, single race Caucasian. This growing diversity makes cultural competence in healthcare a necessary requirement for effective

The facility that I work for has seen a shift in demographics since the erection of this new building and the leaders have identified the challenges this shift have created. They have recognized that for them to achieve the hallmarks of quality of care as illustrated by the IOM they would have to ensure that the standards of culturally competent care are tailored to meet the needs of their new population and it cannot be done haphazardly. Goode (2004) stated that there is no easy solution to achieve cultural competence, it requires careful assessment, setting of specific goals and planning for meaningful growth. Nurse leaders are faced with challenges since the population served by this organization is diverse and consists predominantly of minorities who are more vulnerable to health, employment, and gender disparities. There are large amounts of Africans, Hispanics/Latinos, and Asians; moderate amount of Caucasians and very few Chinese and Vietnamese in our community. In comparison the staff consists of mainly Filipino, moderate Caucasians and few blacks, Hispanics/Latinos, and Asians. In 2008, the U.S.

Cultural competency is an indispensable in nursing practice so that nurses can deliver optimal care for patients from diverse cultural backgrounds. Therefore, insufficient knowledge and skills of cultural competency have continued to increase racial and ethnic inequalities in health care service for minority groups (Dunagan et al. 2013; Long, 2012). As nurses interact with clients they provide nursing care, education and advocacy at any point in need. Cultural awareness remains the basis for nurses to develop interest and continue to advance in knowledge and skills to deliver culturally competent care (Calvillo, 2009). To complete the critical analysis of the

My background has subjected me to many different cultures and I contribute that to my sense of being more culturally competent than others. Culturally competence is a journey that requires the nurse to let go of personal assumptions about another person to be able to provide the best care possible for the patient. It is the ability to attain the attitudes, knowledge and skills necessary to be able deliver quality care to everyone from diverse populations (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2009). It is the belief that “every individual and group is entitled fair and equal rights and participation (Douglas et al., 2011)” in health care.

This author also interviewed Jamie and Tina who are Navajo Americans. They both stated that in their cultures they utilize a medicine man to help with any sort of problem that someone in the family may have. According to Edelman and Mandle, “Native Americans believe that a state of health exists when a person lives in total harmony with nature.” (Edelman & Mandle,pg 42)When Native Americans feel they are out of harmony they will utilize a medicine man. The medicine man will perform ceremonies while using any number of items such as: music, plants, herbs and objects that are symbolic of the person in need of healing, the illness or the treatment. (Barber, 2012) Jamie stated that in her familiy it was customary to wake up, go outside and face east, say a blessing and use corn pollen on their heads and bodies. She stated this was done to

Culture can be defined as “language, ideas, beliefs, customs, taboos, codes, institutions, tools, techniques, works of art, rituals, ceremonies, and symbols” (Merriam-Webster, 2014). The United States is currently experiencing a dramatic change regarding cultural diversity. According to a recent census, 36.3 percent of the United States population belongs to an ethnic or racial minority (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). Increased immigration from around the world is continually adding to the numbers of our already culturally diverse nation. However, despite a marked increase in life expectancy, a decrease in infant mortality, and other health care improvements, many minority groups still experience poorer access to heal care. It should be the goal of every health care worker, especially nurses, to do all that is in their power to not only culturally congruent care but also to attempt to eliminate these health care related disparities.