Culturally Competent Nursing in an Ever Changing Diverse World Essay Example for Free

Cultur eachy Competent Nursing in an Ever Changing Diverse World try outIn nursing and wellnessc be the issue of kitchen-gardening is more pronounced than whateverwhere else. This is because many wad various ethnic, religious, racial and hea so backgrounds come forth to hospitals and wellnessc be centres in search of health solutions. imput adequate to these pagan disparities, patients often fail to receive quality services because of practices that are lacking in heathenish competence.Cultural competence in nursing and health fearfulness refers to the efficiency with which a healthcare provider is fit to offer quality service in a cross-ethnical conniption thus enhancing the systems or institutions capacity to function in effective manners (Dolhun, E. P. et al 2003). civilization influences an individuals values, perceptions, beliefs and opinions. It influences how patients respond to healthcare givers and the medication prescribed to them. Therefore it is very im portant that nurses and takeer(a) medical practiti 1rs seek to improve their awareness towards the issues embossed by ethnic diversity in dedicate to improve on service delivery.This paper examines ways in which a nurse can be more cultur all toldy competent. It also examines the opportunities in the work place and nursing school that requires culturally focus health practices. Additionally the paper discusses the issues of self- measure outment and client assessment that is geared towards the delivery of culturally competent health solutions. Importance of Culture to Nursing. The US is comprised of the most culturally diverse population. A big percentage of the orbs ethnic, religious and cultural groups are represented in this population.This has created a most unique opportunity as puff up as challenge to many organizations in the service delivery sector. This is because people from all cultures get ill at one point in time and they have to seek treatment. Nurses are thus presented with patients from very diverse cultural backgrounds. Culture influences how dissimilar people will respond to the different ways of health service delivery, interventions and treatment (Dolhun, E. P et al. 2003). It is therefore important for nurses to move towards achieving cultural competence in order to effectively deal with the challenges that come with the cultural reality.Because of the demographic situation in the States service providers are under press to provide more culturally correct services. The nursing concern can non be left behind and therefore the need to comply with the changing needs is overwhelming. Language limitations are also another issue of concern in attaining cultural competence. Ethical Factor One estimable principle that guides nurses in their endeavour to provide culturally appropriate care is the appreciating that everyone regardless of their cultural aspect is entitled to receive quality health care.Cultural differences can influence the caregivers prejudices and diagonal towards a patient (Galanti G. A. 1997). In a similar way a patient can misconstrue the caregivers actions and words. This can serve to lower the quality of care given to this particular patient. captain ethics require that there be no form of discrimination in the provision of health care but in a situation where there is prejudice on either party, then the quality of care is compromised. Similarly what is considered ethical may have serious consequences when viewed from a cultural context.A fitting example is when the doctor feels obliged to divulge some information to a patient or a certain member of the family, because in some cultures it is believed that giving certain information to a ill person is unacceptable, the doctors ethical actions may be viewed in very bad light Nurses responsibility Nurses are usually supposed to care for the general well being of a patient, they ought to be able to actualise and empathize with the patient i n order to cater for their physical and emotional needs. On an individual level, a nurse has a responsibility to learn the practices that are in accordance to cultural competence.It is important that nurses should have an office that goes further than just learning acceptable cultural behaviours. Nurses must be motivated by compassion to the patients and driven by moral responsibility (Tervalon M. Murray-Garcia J. 1998). This allows them to display a substantial concern and is thus motivated to internalize harmonious attitudes towards achieving cultural competence. In a hospital setting a nurse is demand to be able to anticipate the issues that may arise due to cultural disparities and lack of proficiency in certain languages.They are also to meet the others points of view as well as appreciating the strengths and weaknesses of these points of view. In addition to this, respecting the cultural differences is key to the ability to provide culturally appropriate care. Since the is sues raised by cultural diversity are multi-faceted in nature, they require a holistic approach that calls for a total overhaul in the nurses ways of thinking. There is no one culture that is the standard of what is dangerous or bad and therefore an open mind is important as nurses move towards delivering health care that exemplifies cultural competence.Achieving this kind of competence is only possible if one comes to self-awareness and recognizes their own values, beliefs, opinions, prejudices and biases (Dolhun, E. P. 2003). From here, they can be able to understand how they respond to different points of view from other. Inorder to come to self-awareness one needs to examine their own cultural and environmental backgrounds. An underlying ethnocentricity is part most people where one is protective and to an extent defensive when it comes to cultural differences (Switzer, G. E et al 1998).However in the nursing practice each nurse should be pliant and work towards developing ski lls of responding to varied cultural settings and situations. Nursing Schools Similarly in nursing schools one is required to meet most of the aforementioned standards. In addition to that colloquy skills are developed in school. eruditeness to communicate effectively in a cultural context entails being open-minded, respectful and shunning any form of prejudice or bias (Robins, L. et al 1998). It is a great opportunity to learn form and rough other cultures.Other communication skills that are essential are listening skills that enable one to establish a rapport with the others. Language skills also play an important role in communication and as such each student nurse has a responsibility to learn other languages. Ofcourse it is not possible to learn all the languages there are but one can do their vanquish and that is what is required of them. In the same way nurses should have skills that would enable them to assess the patient in a cultural context. This would entail finding out as much detail on the patient as possible.It would help to understand their ethnic background, socio-economic class, religion, age group and other social entities that they identify with. Learning about their experiences could also aid in establishing biases. Impact of culture on health care In the grade 2010 more than 45% of all patients in the US will come from minority cultures. This is due to in-migration that is the greatest contributor to the cultural diversity (Tervalon M. Murray-Garcia J. 1998). The health sector has realized the reality of these facts and medical practitioners are now given incentives to encourage them to take up learning on cultural diversity.This is changing the stainless medical profession. Many initiatives have been put in place in order to bridge health differences that exist between minority groups and the white Americans. The existence of cultural difference may impact negatively on the care given. Cultural factor do affect the response to the different methods of treatment and diagnosis. whatever ideas are perceived differently in different cultures and in some extreme cases family members can contradict in ways that may seem bizarre in the western world. ConclusionThe issue of culture is increasingly attaining great importance with the ever-changing cultural mixture. The provision of healthcare is now taking recognition of the effects of culture on the delivery of these vital services. It has been realized that cultural differences have been an impact on the quality of care given. Nurses and other medical practitioner are now under increased pressure to attain cultural competence in order to achieve high standards of quality. This paper opines the achievement of an all round cultural competence is a long journey. It will take a collective as well as an individual effort to achieve.Nurses have a personal responsibility to seek to understand the cultural factor. Additionally each one of them needs to appreciate their m oral duty to seek self-awareness inorder to understand their own behaviour in response to other people with a differing opinion. Respect and a non-judgemental attitude are important if one is to overcome the ethnocentricity that is part of every human being. This awareness cultivates interest and inquiry. one time this point has been reached cultural differences will be viewed as learning opportunities that will spur personal growth. extension serviceDolhun, E. P. Munoz, C. and Grumbach, K. (2003). Cross-cultural education in U. S. medical schools Development of an assessment tool. Academic Medicine. Galanti G. A. (1997). Caring for Patients from Different Cultures chance studies from American hospitals. 2nd ed. University of Philadelphia Press. Philadelphia, PA. Riddick S. (1998). Improving access for limited English-speaking consumers A review of strategies in health care settings. J Health Care Poor Underserved. Supp vol 9 Robins, L. S. Alexander, G. L. , Wolf, F. M. , Fanton e, J. C. , Davis, W. K. (1998).Development and evaluation of an instrument to assess medical students cultural attitudes. Journal of the American Medical Womens Association, Switzer, G. E. Scholle, S. H. , Johnson, B. A. , Kelleher, K. J. (1998). The Client Cultural Competence strain An instrument for assessing cultural competence in behavioral managed care organizations. Journal of Child and Family Studies, Tervalon M. Murray-Garcia J. (1998). Cultural unimportance versus cultural competence A critical distinction in defining physician training outcomes in multicultural education. J Health Care Poor Underserved.