Cultural Competence
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Using APA format, write a six (6) to ten (10) page paper (excludes cover and reference page) that examines culturally sensitive nursing care. The paper consists of two (2) parts and must be submitted by the close of week six (6). A minimum of three (3) current professional references must be provided. Current references include professional publications and valid websites dated within five (5) years. Additionally, a textbook that is no more than one (1) edition old may be used. Part 1 – Introduction Address the following: Using your own words, define culturally competent nursing care. Support the definition with a professional literature citation. Identify four (4) guidelines the registered professional nurse may use to enhance the ability to provide culturally competent nursing care. Provide one example the culturally competent nurse applies to each of the four (4) selected guidelines. At least one example must address care of patient(s) not occurring in an acute care hospital. Describe how the registered professional nurse evaluates if the patient’s cultural needs have been met. Describe whether cultural practices must be accommodated in all aspects of health care. Provide a specific example and rationale to support your response. Part 2- Demonstrating Culturally Competent Nursing Care Address the following: Select one of the following cultures: Asian Native American Hispanic Select four (4) cultural features, associated with the selected cultures that influence the provision of nursing care for patients with chronic illness and at the end of their lives. Describe how the four (4) cultural features influence the provision of care to the patients. Provide two (2) nursing interventions that demonstrate nursing care, which reflect the respect for the dignity and uniqueness of those cultural features for patients experiencing chronic illness and at the end of their lives. Compose your work using a word processor (or other software as appropriate) and save it frequently to your computer. Use a 12 font size, double space your work and use APA format for citations, references, and overall format.
Cultural Competence
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Introduction
The rate at which the world is becoming globalizedis quite high. This means that there is more than one cultural background within any set of population, regardless of the size. As such, for most professionals, it is common to interact with people from different cultures. As people seek to work across the world and clients seek services across the globalized platforms, professionals are constantly required to be culturally aware(Ihs.gov, 2015). For registered nurses, cultural awareness now takes precedence in almost all their operations.As health care takes a patient centered orientation, registered nurses are required to be culturally competent. This way they can offer care to patient from diverse patients across the cultural divides.
Cultural competence can therefore be defined in a number of ways, but the most appropriate one is, a set of policies, attitudes and behaviors that are congruent and come together among professionals in any system or agencies enabling them to work in culturally diverse situations. This is a definition that was developed by a seminal work in the year 1989, by Cross et al(Nccccurricula.info, 2015). although there have been changes in the last several year to this definition; the principles underlined in the definition has remained largely the same. Cultural elements that are crucial to any professional include; language, thoughts, beliefs, personal identification, communication, customs, values and actions all of which are specific to different geographic, social groups, religious, ethics and racial contexts.In the health care setups and for registered nurses, they have to understand that these elements affect aspects such as, disease, health care delivery, illness, healing, surroundings, care givers gender, medication, operation and wellness. As health care institutions and registered nurses strive to offer patient centered and respectful care,cultural competence will increase the chances to reduce the level of health disparities and access to quality care(Nccccurricula.info, 2015).
Cultural competence guidelines for registered nurses
Value of diversity
One of the basic guidelines to cultural competence for the registered nurses is valuing diversity. This way they will be able to interact with different patients and medical professionals with the appreciation of the diverse backgrounds. One of the examples where registered nurses can practice the element of valuing the various cultural differences is forming a respectful habit towards the people that they interact with(Bacote, 2012). If a patient is booked to the hospital and they believe that they have to be prayed for before a major surgery, it is important that the nurse respects the wishes and beliefs of the patient and their loved ones despite differences in religious beliefs for the nurse.
Cultural education
The second guidelines that can help the nurses harness cultural competence and become largely cultural aware, is through learning as much as they can about different cultures.This is a guideline that not only relies on the aforementioned guideline but also works to strengthen the skills of the nurse on cultural aspects. By learning the different aspects of the different cultural practices, will not only enhance the appreciation for the culture and the people but also reduce the disparities that come with assumptions in health care. If a patient for example, does not believe in surgery even if they are suffering from cancer, it is crucial for the registered nurse to first understand the meaning of the patient’s beliefs(Bacote, 2012). While it is a general practice to offer surgery in such a case, with higher cases of success, if the patient prefers methods that are not invasive it is crucial to understand why. This way the nurse will not form prejudice towards the patient, but will form understanding and respect for the patient and more importantly to the culture. This way, if the nurse is faced with a similar scenario, they will not pass judgment to the patient or the culture, but will draw on their cultural awareness skills to offer culturally competent care to the second patient and the subsequent ones.This also means that the nurses should try and become aware of the various body and other commonly used signs/gestures in the different cultures. Different cultures embody gestures in their communications differently and they are some of the most likely form of communications to misinterpret(Nih.gov, 2015).
Reflection on personal values
One other guideline is related registered nurses reflecting on their value systems in relation to culture, professional care and patient centered care.To understand the various cultural beliefs that patients exhibit and want observed, it is also crucial the nurses also have some insightful moments where they evaluate the value systems. This means that the nurses have to look for the understanding they seek by first appreciating that they too have some values that they would want observed by those they interact with. If a patient is booked to the hospital and they would want to be attended to by a certain gender, relative to the religious beliefs, it is crucial to understand the basics of privacy from a personal point of view. In most of the cases, if the attending nurse is of the opposite sex and the patient is be treated o their genitalia it can be uncomfortable for the patient. This is especially the case where the patient may be older than the attending nurse. As such, it would be important that the nurses appreciate the personal, religious or otherwise concerns of the patient, by looking at their basic concerns to better understand what the patient is going through and to better support them without any form of prejudice or disrespect.
Internalizing the institutional policies on cultural awareness is also one of the most crucial aspects that can assist the registered nurses to become culturally competent. Some of the hospitals have adapted to the trend, where there are guiding policies that ensure cultural competence. It is crucial that even as the management tries to implement the policies, the nurses should the personal responsibility in making sure that they play their part(Bacote, 2012). This means that they should constantly evaluate their actions and decisions alongside the ethical practices advocated in the hospital relevant to the aspect of cultural competence.Some hospitals will embrace the aspect of cultural competence and awareness through making sure that they employ staffs from the different cultural and social backgrounds. As for the registered nurses working in such an environment, where there are different cultures, religions and races, it is crucial that theyget to respectthe different cultures at the personal and professional level. This will ensure that the staffs are not only offering the best services to the patients, but also will enhance cohesion and team work towards quality delivery. If a nurse at the work place feels that their cultural or religious beliefs are not respected, they not likely to have good working relationship and this could also affect their performance and ability to offer quality care to the patients as well interact with the family members.
Assessing cultural competence
One of the core elements in making sure that as a registered nurse one making all the right efforts in cultural competence skills , is assessing the level of influence that the interventions have o...