The nursing profession is characterized by various expectations and norms. For instance, the National Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services Standards (CLAS) overlap with some criteria that are distinct to nursing practice. In particular, CLAS’s core principle mandates that care should be responsive to all cultural backgrounds (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services [HHS], n.d.). Accordingly, the principle corresponds with the nursing standards of advocacy and respectful and equitable practice suggesting that registered nurses (RNs) should embrace patient uniqueness and strive to understand diverse clients (American Nurses Association [ANA], 2021). Moreover, CLAS proposes that healthcare professionals must establish relevant goals and policies and conduct assessments to examine that people receive high-quality care (HHS, n.d.). Such requirements correlate with the nursing benchmarks of quality practice and practice evaluation, which account for recommending strategies for improvement and engaging in reflection and appraisal of one’s work (ANA, 2021). Consequently, my peers and I use the discussed standards by continuously obtaining information about cultures that we encounter in our areas of practice, learning to be open-minded, and reminiscing on our choices and behavior.
Furthermore, to promote cultural competence, one can address issues that hinder respectful attitudes toward different cultures. One action I might incorporate into my medical facility is resolving power imbalances to prevent them from negatively affecting care (ANA, 2021). For example, I could concentrate on QSEN’s (Quality and Safety Education for Nurses) competency of teamwork and collaboration (Stalter & Mota, 2018). QSEN suggests that effective cooperation between professionals must be based on mutual trust and communication (Stalter & Mota, 2018). Moreover, while being advocates for patients’ preferences, nurses must act as team coordinators (Porter-O’Grady, 2018). Accordingly, to facilitate cultural competence, I could ensure that my colleagues collaborate properly to meet patient needs rather than exhibiting biases and prejudices.
References
American Nurses Association. (2021). Nursing: Scope and standards of practice (4th ed.). Author.
Porter-O’Grady, T. (2018). Leadership advocacy: Bringing nursing to the homeless and underserved. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 42, 115-122.
Stalter, A. M., & Mota, A. (2018). Using systems thinking to envision quality and safety in healthcare. Nursing Management, 49(2), 32-39.
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (n.d.). CLAS standards. HHS.