Metro Plus Health Plan

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

In order to deliver nursing care to different cultures, nurses are expected to understand and provide culturally competent health care to diverse individuals. Culturally competent care is tailored to the specific needs of each client, while incorporating the individual’s beliefs and values (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2006, p. 90). By being culturally competent, nurses are able to help improve health outcomes by using cultural knowledge and specific skills in selecting interventions that are specific to each client (Stanhope & Lancaster). Therefore, nurses “should perform a cultural assessment on every client with whom they interact with” (Stanhope &

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, by Anne Fadiman, is the story of two very different cultures lacking understanding for one another leading to a tragedy due to cultural incompetence. Today in America there are very many different cultures. Health care providers need to be aware of cultural diversity and sensitivity when caring for patients. If a health care provider is not sensitive towards a patient’s culture it can cause a relationship of mistrust to form, lead to barriers in the plan of care, and increase health care cost. The current guidelines to promote cultural competence in the clinical setting include completing a cultural diversity self-assessment, identify the need of the population served, evaluate barriers in the community and practice, educate staff to cultural diversities, schedule longer appointments, clarify limitations, and identify alternatives offered (Cash & Glass, 2014).

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.

Hart and Mareno (2013) wrote in their article, Cultural challenges, and barriers through the voices of nurses, nurses are being tested in today 's healthcare environment to provide culturally competent care to their patients which consist of a diverse population. Nurses, according to Hart

The National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) are designed to improve health quality and fairness by helping health organizations implement cultural and linguistic services in their facilities (United States Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), Office of Minority Health, n.d.). In this discussion, I will describe one CLAS standard that is significant to the Haitan-American culture, how I can implement culturally competent care to these individuals utilizing this standard, and what the biggest nursing challenge would be when implementing competent care to this culture.

Culturally competent care is more important now than it has been ever before. BY 2020, 35% of the American population will consist of ethnic minorities as compared to today's 28% (Goldsmith, n.d.). This means that in order to best cater to these different patients, doctors and nurses have to speak the language of the different ethnicities, understanding their perspectives of medicine and treatment and catering to these in rode rot provide them with the best intervention.

Implications: The nursing field needs to become more culturally aware to be able to reach and accommodate a greater population that needs access to health care.

Delivering culturally sensitive care is an important focus throughout healthcare institutions in the US and for this reason it is gaining attention within the nursing profession since nurses are crucial when it comes to the delivery of health care. This is because they can have a great influence on unequal treatment thereby enhancing the culturally congruent care within the health care institutions they operate from (Wesley & Dobal, 2009). The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO)

Our nation has diverse people from different cultures and backgrounds. To achieve appropriate health policies’ integration, subsequent actions at the policy level, and cultural competence must be a part of an organization’s efforts to achieve and deliver healthcare to those who seek healthcare services that can meet their social, cultural, and linguistic needs. The importance of culturally appropriate health policies is that it ensures sensitivity and cultural competence, which means being aware of cultural differences and appreciating and understanding those differences and accepting them. Culturally appropriate health policies have a need across borders that deal with health disparities of people from different cultures, and availability of such

Within the nursing field, the clients come from varied and diverse backgrounds and a nurse must be cognizant of different cultures. Unfortunately, there are times the culture of a client may preclude the healthcare team from fully communicating healthcare recommendations and treatment education. This could be from a lack of health-related knowledge, lack of competent interpreter availability to communicate effectively, or cultural beliefs the client possesses on health matters contrary to established medicine. The healthcare team must adjust the healthcare given to the cultural beliefs and self-determination of the client regardless of any biases held. With difficult communication or a lack of knowledge, it is difficult to determine the competency

Nursing is a dynamic profession, continuously evolving, changing and adapting to a new societal norms and expectations, discoveries of new medical procedures, developments in highly sophisticated technical systems, and breakthroughs in pharmaceutical treatments. Another recent trend that has influenced nursing considerably is the consumer mandate for culturally competent care in an increasingly diverse, multicultural society. Culturally competent care is important for nurses to function in high-acuity and high-stress environment to be effective in establishing rapport with patients, to accurately assess, develop, and implement interventions to meet patients’ needs. (Culturally competent nursing care, 2004).

There are many barriers in nursing when it comes to communication with patients from different cultures. The need for an interpreter would be crucial for patient diagnoses and outcomes. Finding the appropriate tools and resources is heavily depended on to achieve quality health care of different ethnicities.

The United States is made up of a very large, and diverse group of people. Every day more and more individuals come to the United States to begin a new life. As nurses, it is imperative to be aware, as well as respect other individual’s cultures, values, and beliefs, in order to provide the best care possible to our diverse patient population. In this paper, I will discuss the necessity of the transcultural nursing specialty, cultural diversity, and give examples of how to provide culturally sensitive care.