The Importance Of Cultural Competency

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).

The healthcare system within America reflects increasing numbers of cultural diversity and awareness. According to Holloway (2004), cultural awareness is defined as the deliberate, cognitive process by which health care providers become appreciative of and sensitive to the values, beliefs, practices, and problem solving strategies of the clients’ cultures. Cultural awareness include an examination of one’s personal biases. In order to understand cultural diversity, individuals must strive to acknowledge the prejudices they may already hold toward different cultures. On the other hand, cultural competence is a process through which health professionals can integrate their knowledge and skills to improve culturally effective interactions

Adapting to different cultural beliefs and practices requires flexibility and a respect for others view points. Cultural competence means to really listen to the patient, to find out and learn about the patient's beliefs of health and illness. To provide culturally appropriate care we need to know and to understand culturally influenced health behaviors. However, becoming culturally competent is a much more daunting task. Culture (and ethnicity) often influences a patient’s perceptions of health and illness. Therefore, if healthcare providers appear insensitive to cultural diversity, their actions may negatively affect the quality of the healthcare that they provide.

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.

Haynes (2016) article, The Road to Cultural Competency Are We There yet? Stated that the key to decreasing health disparities in the workforce could be done by increasing diversity. Health disparities as indicated by Turk (2014), Issue: Nursing Workforce, can result in a more complicated societal problem. It was further stated, health disparities have received much attention and is currently identified as a priority issue in our nation. According to Haynes (2016), strategies which were recommended by the Sullivan Commission were done to increase the workforces of nursing should begin with education. Cultural competency as stated here should be a vital component of the nursing curriculum. Turk (2014) reported health disparities result in a more multifaceted societal burden. According to Turk (2014), decreasing health disparities has received significant attention. Individuals, including policymakers, academicians, and researchers are concerned about the diversification of the healthcare workforce of which strategies are being implemented by decreasing health disparities and increasing the availability of culturally competent among health care providers.

Cultural competence, or the ability of health care providers to function well in different cultural contexts [7], has increasingly become a focus in U.S. medical schools. More schools are recognizing the growth in national diversity and the importance of having a health care workforce armed with knowledge of how to remain culturally sensitive and aware to provide the best possible care for all patients. According to Kripalani et al., research shows that cultural competence can improve communication and collaboration efforts between the patient and physician, thereby improving clinical outcomes, and eventually reducing health disparities [14]. Additionally, cultural competency has been shown to correlate with quality care to minority populations [15]. However, the strides made towards cultural competence of physicians have not been consistent across all medical schools as some medical students are trained extensively in this field while others are not trained at all. It would not be an easy task as it would require changing the entire curriculum and getting support from administrators [13], but the hope is to integrate cultural competence into all medical school curricula to arm future physicians with the tools they need to care for those of all different

I would have to rate our school between cultural precompetence and cultural competence depending on the year in question and even the time of year. We are aware that we have achievement gaps in our minority populations, particularly our African American and special education students. When test scores come back and we see the lack of progress for these special groups, we have meetings and provided professional development on differentiation and small group instruction. Only one year did I participate in a professional development where an expert on teaching African American led the discussion. Usually staff development sessions are more generalized.

The first step to achieving complete cultural competency is valuing diversity. It is a process that requires cultural humility. Unlike competency, cultural humility goes beyond simply being knowledgeable of differences, but having a humble desire to ensure a lifelong commitment to intercultural exchange (Tervalon & Murray-Garcia, 1998). I have witnessed some Americans oppose the idea of immigration and strongly believe that American services should not cater to immigrants. They believe that all foreigners should learn English and the United States should not accommodate their linguistic needs. These same people are aware of the cultural differences that exist in America, but lack cultural humility and appreciation for diversity, making it difficult for them to attain complete cultural competency. A public health professional cannot go into a community, assuming that everyone thinks and behaves like them. They must be open-minded, flexible, empathetic, and aware of the differences and similarities that exist. Therefore, cultural humility is a prerequisite in achieving cultural competence.

Cultural competency training has been identified as an effective method to reduce racial disparities in medical care for minority groups (Institute of Medicine, 2002). Several states have proposed and, in some instances, passed legislation regarding cultural competency training for healthcare professionals (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, n.d.). New Jersey was the first state to successfully enact legislation in 2005, requiring medical colleges

Rose, P.R. (2013). Cultural competency for the health professional. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Understanding cultural issues among the community can improve health based on needs of the community. Choosing appropriate methods of care is challenging in implementing an educational plan. It is important for the health care providers to develop skills and knowledge when caring for people from other cultures. Assessments should include understanding strengths, weakness, resources and needs of the community.

After delving into the text (Spector, 2013) I have come to understand that cultural competency is not a skill that one may develop over night, but a special process that is required for a healthcare professional to master. To then be able to administer the best care for their patient. Office of Minority Health, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (2013). The NCLAS serves as the foundation for treating every individual, which “are intended to advance health equity, improve quality, and help

Currently, we all live amongst an extreme diverse population. According to National public radio also known as NPR, America's diversity remains on the rise, with all racial and ethnic minorities growing faster than whites. This increase in a diverse population plays a big role in healthcare professionals because there will come a time where we are confronted with people from different walks of life’s beliefs and cultures in the health field. Therefore, it is crucial to learn how to become cultural sensitive to obtain full cultural competence. According to Red Shoe Movement, cultural sensitivity is being aware that cultural differences and similarities between people exist without assigning them a value. By becoming culturally sensitive you are able to acknowledging the difference in cultures mean while having a high level of respect. According to the text book Cultural competence is best defined as “a combination of culturally congruent behaviors, practice attitudes, and policies that allow nurses to work effectively in cross-cultural situations” (Stanhope, M. & Lancaster, J., 2015, p.74.) Cultural competence is the key component to becoming a successful nurse. A nurse who is cultural competent views each person as unique and can assist any patient to the best of her or his ability no matter the circumstances. . A cultural competent health care system can health improve health outcomes and limit health disparities.

Cultural competence is focused on learned behaviors and actions and can be pertain and individual, organization or policy (Oelke, Thurston, & Arthur, 2013). Ideally, a healthcare providers’ practice would only be influenced by the individual patient and/or the community of which the patient resides. But in reality, the healthcare providers’ practice and care is influenced by many entities, such as the

For health care workers, cultural competency is important for obvious reasons. On a daily basis, healthcare professionals work with patients of a variety of cultures, and many work with team members who come from different cultures than their own. Medical and other healthcare professionals spend many years in school learning how and when to treat patients for giving symptoms, but teaching them to interact with patients currently falls on knowing the things that make up a person’s cultural identity. Cultural differences that exist between people, such as language, dress and traditions, and the way societies organize themselves, their conception of morality and religion, attitudes about illness and death and the way they interact with the environment. Cultural competence is important in health care because the patient outcome, patient readmissions, staff retention, and labor relations all determine the outcome of an organizations success. Diversity improves the effectiveness and productivity of the workforce. Disadvantages of ignoring cultural diversity can result in a loss of revenue for the business. Company growth will also be affected by ignoring cultural diversity. Steps an organization should take to face this challenge is to implement training that cover workforce diversities and keep an open dialogue among employees expressing concerns, differences, ideas, etc.