Culturally Competent Nursing Care

Culturally Competent Nursing Care
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Culturally Competent Nursing Care
Introduction
Being culturally sensitive implies having capacity to interact well and suitably with people from different cultures owing to comprehension of their norms, preferences and behavior. It refers to the essence of awareness and bearing respect for the diversity that exists among people of different backgrounds. From a general point of view, it is important for people of different professions to understand and apply this concept since human interaction is undoubtedly unavoidable in one way or another. Furthermore, it is important to note that being culturally sensitive requires application of a range of social skills that enable one to treat the other appropriately without compromising on issues of race, ethnicity, gender, religion or social status, as these aspects are viewed differently by people of different cultures. With the passing of time, America has come to be known as ‘The Melting Pot’ because of the vast cultural diversity that is existent in the region. The Census Bureau claims that by 2041 minority communities will comprise the majority of the United States' population (Kemp, 2005). Cultural competence becomes a crucial requirement for effective healthcare provision due to this growing diversity.
People from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds are immigrating to the United States every year, changing the population demographic of United States. This scenario has considerable impacts on the country’s healthcare delivery Nurses as the direct caregivers to patients and spend the most time interacting with patients, hence the need for them to practice cultural competency. As such, culture- as a way of human life has major influences on health practices. People from different backgrounds bear apparent different views of life in general. Therefore, it is crucial for Registered Nurses as Healthcare providers to recognize and integrate patients’ beliefs and practices into their care plans (Green & Reinckens, 2013).
According to the Association of American Colleges of Nursing (2009), Culturally Competence refers to "the attitudes, knowledge, and skills necessary for providing quality care to diverse populations". The Association also recognizes that Culturally Competent Nursing care is a constant process via which a medical institution or individual healthcare provider recognizes diversity as a norm in a normal healthcare work environment.
As such, Culturally Competent Nursing Care can be described as the process of considering and understanding the vast and diverse cultural needs of different patients in respect to their backgrounds and ethnic bearings.
RN guidelines for enhancing ability to provide culturally competent Care
To begin with, this paper notes that there exists no single or universally accepted guideline(s) to enhancing culturally competent care to people from diverse cultural backgrounds. This is largely because patients have varied needs and conditions that are explicitly unique calling for attention to individual assessment and planning. As such, RNs need to identify and comprehend patients’ perceptions in addition to providing client-centered care because of reflection of their beliefs and values. All stakeholders of the healthcare system need to understand the reasons of healthcare design strategies to eliminate the existent lack of correspondence in dealing with people of different cultures. Cultural competence will help RNs to provide appropriate care coupled with encouragement for patients’ participation in health care (Maier-Lorentz, 2008). All things considered, factors of age, ethnicity and gender of the patients have an impact on the form of interaction to be exercised in a healthcare setting.
RNs ought to implement a leadership approach in exhibiting respect for the diverse cultures represented by patient population in a healthcare setting. This goes with the establishment of linguistically appropriate mechanisms like use of a call center, which is further elaborated hereunder. Per se, it is vital to shift focus from individual patient care to a broader perspective of understanding different communities, especially those represented by minority groups within modern societies. Furthermore, it is the responsibility of RNs to advocate for eradication of health disparities, especially in regards to patients suffering from chronic illnesses, sensory impairments and end of life situations. It must be noted that inequalities arising from these ailments have an adverse impact on general quality of life. Above all, RNs must be fully aware of the policies that affect culturally sensitive care among diverse patient populations (Lauderdale, 2009). Registered Nurses need to be flexible to provide culturally competent care. Continuous learning and training for RNs stands as an important mechanism to realizing cultural competency in healthcare provision.
Guidelines to providing culturally competent care to the diverse patient population can be adopted as provided by the Agency for Healthcare research and Quality (AHRQ). Racial disparities are responsible for bad patient outcomes; this makes the need to recognize the diverse patient population important. It has been established that people with limited English proficiency do not get adequate patient care. The AHRQ provides a handbook for nurses to provide patient safety and quality since they are fully responsible for patient care in both treatment facilities and community-based care and they need to comprehend researched and proven techniques or interventions to enhance care and treatment outcomes. For instance, Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) is a quality improvement program initiated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to eliminate cultural disparity and increase efficiency of healthcare organizations by actions of RNs. Organizations and centers under direction of the federal government need to follow the standards of CLAS. The main objective hereby is to improve healthcare services for minority groups (say Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans and African Americans), by making services affordable and reducing the number of medical errors. CLAS focuses on three major aspects, providing linguistic services, culturally competent care and creating a diverse workforce (AHRQ, 2014: Buscemi, 2011).
The Cultural Care Theory represents another guideline for the field of nursing focused on culture and health. It focuses on cultural beliefs, values and practices. The model aims to provide an organizational framework comprehension for RNs for purposes of clinical assessment. It elaborates met paradigm concepts to act as guides for cultural competence in all aspects of healthcare. The theory promotes nursing care based on understanding the diverse cultures of patients (Purnell, 2002). According to the theory, caring is essential to curing and all cultures have different beliefs and practices related to healthcare. When patients are sick and admitted to the hospital and the healthcare provided to them is inconsistent to their beliefs; this may lead to noncompliance. This will hinder the recovery of the patient. Leininger highlights that healthcare professionals need to know the similarities as well as the differences in different cultures. According to Leininger and McFarland, (2006), the theory helps nurses to assess, plan and implement culturally sensitive competent care. This theory stands to guide RNs care plan by using three modes- culture care preservation, culture care negotiation, and culture care restructuring (Maier-Lorentz, 2008). Patients’ cultures play a critical role in following the health education and follow up advised by healthcare professionals. Involving patients and planning healthcare education based on the beliefs and practices will improve patient outcome and decrease the rate of noncompliance. (Leininger and McFarland, 2006; Buscemi, 2011).
Guidelines Incorporation at the workplace
All patients are supposed to be treated with respect and dignity irrespective of their cultural background. This can be achieved by sharing of information with patients to promote their participation decision making (Giger, 2004). All the same, it is important to understand patients’ beliefs, preferences and their family perceptions and incorporate this in planning for their care. Another mechanism of exercising cultural sensitivity guidelines in nursing care giving involves the use of Patient and family centered care centers (PFCC). The center helps the patients and families deal with the hospital experience. It not only provides information about community resources but also provides feedback from patients to healthcare administrators. RNs must be willing to make a positive change in healthcare delivery system by sharing their experiences with patients with the administration of overall healthcare systems. This will result in empowering patients and families in addition to promoting a culture of safety and cultural competence.
Another important initiative in light of this is the provision of each patient with a user-friendly list of medications explaining the dosage and timing and reducing medication administration errors (Eggenberger, et al. 2006). To meet the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) requirements to provide linguistic services to people with limited English proficiency, registered nurses must have access to open hot line for interpreters, 24 hours a day to help staff and patients. This comes along with a certified interpreter program for employees who speak different languages. It is such vital for registered nurses to review their professional training on a regular basis.
Importance of RNs to accommodate Patients’ Cultural Needs and their Evaluation
Culturally competent nursing care is becoming more important as more people immigrate to the United States and as the world develops to newer level of socializing. Leininger’s Transcultural Nursing Theory can assist nurses in becoming culturally competent in their practice. As more immigrants come to the united sates, there emerges an even more warranting need for Registered nurses to comprehend the diverse needs of the different cultures of people. For purposes of evaluating if a patient’s cultural needs have been met, the RN can use the ‘Empowerment Approach, which aims to aid patients in identifying and achieving their personal goals and objectives, deal with emotional challenges and or gain social support and motivation. In other words, the RN ought to evaluate behavior changes of patients under their direct care. (Green & Reinckens, 2013).
Leininger’s culture care theory elaborates the importance of RN...