Professional Communication Cultural Sensitivity Of Health Care

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.

It is important for policy makers to create services that are culturally sensitive since the United States is a culturally diverse country; moreover, Healthcare professionals needs to be culturally competent so that they can guide policy makers in making sustainable systems for individual communities. “Efforts to improve cultural competence among health care professionals and organizations would contribute to improving the quality of health care for all consumers” (GeorgeTown Health Policy Institutes, 2004, para 31). Language barrier is another culture issue that prevents the community from getting the care that they deserve. “Cultural and language differences and socioeconomic status interact with and contribute to low health literacy, defined as the inability to understand or act on medical/therapeutic instructions” (Shaw, Huebner, Armin, Orzech, & Vivian, 2009, p.1). There should be health policy addressing this issue because of the confusion and inappropriate treatment that many

In the preparation of writing this paper, I reviewed several educational videos from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (n.d.) that show healthcare providers interacting with patients from different cultures. I chose the video that shows a Hispanic man interacting with his surgeon. I chose this video because all counties in Ohio except one are seeing increases in the Hispanic population. There has been a nine

It is essential when entering health care as a professional nurse to realize that health care workers, doctors, nurses, and other health care providers, form their own culture with their own beliefs and attitudes about the care that’s delivered and the patients whom they serve. Because there are significant barriers to health care for Hispanics, particularly those that are Mexican-American, in order to provide culturally competent care, the professional nurse must implement effective communication, convey respect to the patient, and take a thorough health history from each patient. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the background of the Mexican-American Hispanic patient, compare and contrast their culture to the culture of those that work in health care in the United States, and recommendations for the professional nurse using Purnell’s Cultural Theory for support and a reflection on Wellness Day for Health Promotion focusing on Hispanic heritage including Curanderismo.

In a culture as diverse as the United States it is of utmost importance that individuals in settings such as the health care field learn to communicate with people from different cultures. This type of setting offers many chances for misunderstanding, miscommunication, and mistrust. It is imperative for the health care field to have an effective strategy to minimize these negative consequences of poor intercultural communication. One must also remember when implementing a communication strategy that there are many elements that effect the experience; cultural variations, personal dignity, and interpersonal relationships. An effective intercultural

Addressing the diabetes-related health disparity affecting many Hispanic’s in California involves exploring the culture, beliefs, and perceptions of the Hispanic diabetic community. In the case study by Lemley & Spies (2013), the authors discussed a few of the common traditional beliefs and practices related to diabetes found within the Hispanic immigrant population. The purpose of the case study was to provide an overview of one person’s use and perception of three different traditional practices, common in the Mexican American

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.

Cultural Competency can be described as one’s ability to learn about cultures other than their own. It speaks to the value one places on diversity and their desire to foster an open exchange of ideas between dissimilar cultures. While in a perfect world, cultural competency would be of heightened importance in all aspects of life, there are certain industries where cultural competency factor more heavily; one of those being health care. This is especially true in areas with increased diversities of cultures, ethnic groups and a variety of languages.

Diabetes is a chronic disease that requires constant self-care management practices among diabetic patients. The patients have to make decisions to stick to a strict diet and exercise plan, they also have to be involved in complex activities aimed towards their care and health. Diabetes self-management education provides patients with essential information and has been shown to have a positive impact on the health of patients. Self-management enhances patients with skills and knowledge and information for self-care. The problem focus for this project is lack of culturally diabetes self-management education for the diabetic Hispanic adult population who receive care at a free clinic in Indio, California. Patients who have diabetes need information about their behavior and diet plans to help in the management and maintenance

When it comes to diabetes there are no pros about this health problem for anyone. Conversely, there are many cons to this issues. Most importantly, this disease has many complications, and one major complication is heart disease (CDC, 2015). Also, individuals with diabetes are fours time more likely to die due to heart disease, and is the top cause of death (CDC, 2015). According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (2014), individuals of Hispanic descent have more complications and disability from diabetes, and there is high importance to reduce this among this population. However, another con, is that there is a lack in resources for Mexican immigrants in self-management of diabetes. A study by Schneiderman et al. (2014), found that 47.9 percent of participants did not have health coverage, and 41.3 percent of participants did not know about their diabetes disease. Staggering results show that there is a need for support in various areas in management of diabetes. As a result, my stance on this rising issue, is that diabetes can be managed with adequate resources, education and collaboration, especially in incorporating folk beliefs, that will lead to healthier lives for Mexican Immigrants (CDC, 2015; Gordon, 1994).

Culture defined as “ an integrated pattern of human behaviour that include the language, thoughts, communications, actions, customs, beliefs, values, and institutions of racial, ethnic, or social groups.”1 Competence refers to “the capacity to function effectively as an individual and an organization within the context of the cultural beliefs, behaviours, and needs presented by consumers and their communities.”2

Culturally Competent Health Care: A Look into Mexican-American Culture With cultural diversity in the United States coming to an all-time high, it is essential for nursing professionals to learn to provide culturally congruent care for their patients. In order to provide this type of care, nurses must realize that every culture has their own set of values, beliefs, behavior patterns and lifestyles. By gathering information specific to a culture such as their definition of health, traditional health practices, and typical behaviors regarding health, nurses are able to use preservation and accommodation in order to provide culturally congruent care for their patients.

Cultural competency is extremely indispensable in nursing practice so that nurses can provide optimal care for patients from diverse cultural backgrounds. Therefore, insufficient knowledge and skills of cultural competency has continued to increase racial and ethnic inequalities in healthcare services especially for minority groups (Dunagan et al. 2013; Long, 2012). As Nurses interact with clients they provide care, education and advocacy at any point in need. Cultural awareness provides the bases for nurses to develop of interest to continue and advance in knowledge and skills to deliver cultural competent care (Calvillo, 2009). To complete the critical analysis of the integrative review on cultural competency in new nursing graduates,

One of the greatest things about nursing is that we have the opportunity to share with different cultures and learn about them. Our patients are complex; they each have their religion, culture, and life choices. Delivering health advice and not knowing much about a patient’s cultural background will influence how the patient may perceive the nurses’ advice. The article that I did my research on was published in 2011, by Perez-Avila, Sobralske and Katz; the name of the article is “No Comprendo: Practice Considerations When Caring for Latinos With Limited English Proficiency in the United States Health Care System”. In the United States, Hispanics form the largest minority. Most of this community has limited English