The socio-cultural diversity is one of the main features which can be used to describe the United States’ population. This diversity is associated with all the spheres of the social life that is why nursing and nursing education also depend on the necessity to respond to the socio-cultural diversity. As a result, nursing practitioners should orient in the diverse society and provide services with the necessary respect and dignity related to different social groups’ representatives.
From this point, the focus on the nurses’ cultural competency is the important part of the nursing education which can be constantly improved because of the social demand for the adequate and culturally competent care.
The solution to the problem of the culturally incompetent nursing services is in improving the nursing education related to the idea of cultural competency and in incorporating more developed patient-oriented training into the current courses in colleges and universities. Thus, the implementation plan provides the discussion of the main stages necessary to realize the proposed solution.
Methods of Obtaining Necessary Support to Implement the Plan
The necessity to implement the developed plan which orients to improving the nursing education in relation to the issue of cultural competency should be supported with the extensive data regarding the cases in which the lack of the cultural competency led to negative consequences.
To obtain the necessary support, it is necessary to record the data on the cases, to analyze the problem, and to provide the report to the organization’s leadership and fellow staff. It should be stated in the report that the issue is expected to be discussed at the district level in order to incorporate the improved courses in nurses’ cultural competency in the local colleges and universities if the problem cannot be discussed at the state level.
Description of the Problem of Cultural Competency in Nursing Practice
The problem of cultural competency in nursing practice is based on the fact that nurses are challenged today to provide the high-quality services within the socially and culturally diverse society. However, nurses are often unable to provide the adequate care and services because of the lack of the cultural competency. Clients often remain to be dissatisfied with the care proposed by nurses because their values and traditions can be violated (Kutob et al., 2013).
In spite of the fact that this issue is discussed at the governmental and state levels and the cultural competency courses are integrated in the country’s colleges and universities, the problem is still observed because the integration of the patient-centered care’s principles into practice is the complex process requiring the nurses’ high qualification.
The origins of the problem are in weaknesses of the nursing curricula. The current approach to developing the cultural competency related to the nursing education is satisfactory because nurses are trained to provide the high-quality services to diverse population groups and to concentrate on the clients’ differences and values. However, the problem is reported, and certain improvements to change the situation are necessary.
The Explanation of the Proposed Solution
To solve the discussed problem, it is necessary to increase the nurses’ cultural competency while improving the nursing education. In relation to nurses, cultural competency is the ability to provide the patient-oriented services with the focus on the clients’ beliefs, values, and traditions. In spite of the fact that the focus on the culturally competency should be the norm, many nurses demonstrate the lack of the necessary knowledge and skills (Kutob et al., 2013).
That is why, it is important to improve the cultural competency courses and to incorporate them in the nursing education while guaranteeing the developed patient-oriented training.
The integration of the improved theoretical courses and practical activities into the nursing curricula which are associated with the idea of cultural competency are important because nursing practitioners should understand that the cultural competency is complex in its nature, and it requires the ongoing practice with references to the principles of transcultural nursing.
Rationale for Selecting the Proposed Solution
The necessity to improve the nursing education in relation to cultural competency can be supported with a variety of arguments. Thus, cultural competency is important in nursing practice because the nurses’ culturally competent actions promote the idea of the client’s safety. Patients are expected not only to receive the high-quality services and but also receive the care based on the principles of respect and dignity.
If a nurse is unaware of the patients’ values, violates the ethnic or cultural differences and norms, a client cannot feel secure, and the quality of the care decreases. Language barriers and the absence of cultural sensitivity lead to patients’ dissatisfaction and even to the inability to provide the necessary help in time (Delgado et al., 2013). That is why, more attention should be paid to the development of the nursing practitioners’ cultural competence with references to improving their theoretical knowledge and practical skills.
Evidences to Support the Necessity of Proposed Changes
The necessity to focus on the needs of diverse population in relation to the nursing practice is actively developed by Madeleine Leininger with references to her idea of transcultural nursing as the approach to guarantee the patients’ safety and satisfaction (Boyle & Hinrichs, 2013). Leininger develops the concept of transcultural nursing as the background for the Theory of Culture Care: Diversity and Universality (Ray, 2013, p. 142).
According to Leininger, the nurse-patient relationship can lead to the positive results when a nurse respects the client’s culture and values and can propose the adequate patient-oriented care (Leininger, 1991). As a result, a nurse needs the effective knowledge to respond to the patients’ expectations, and nursing education should be developed according to the principles of transcultural nursing.
Culturally congruent care depends on the significant cultural fundament which should include the nurses’ knowledge of the patients’ values, tradition, religion, norms, and language in order to promote the patient-centred care.
The culturally competent care should be the result of the appropriate nursing education because nurses need to receive the theoretical knowledge and develop practical skills while working with the diverse population (Ray, 2013). The key to providing the high-quality nursing services is in understanding the patients’ needs, and the idea of the developed cultural competency is directly associated with this statement.
The Implementation Logistics
The improvement of the nursing education regarding the cultural competency should be realized at several levels, including the district, state, and government levels. Although the cultural competency courses are proposed in the majority of colleges and universities, the additional courses should be implemented in higher schools in the form of 30-40 hours of lectures and seminars and promoted clinical immersions conducted during several weeks.
The courses should be developed and designed during the academic year of 2014-2015, and the implementation of the additional courses in local colleges and universities should be organized during the 2015-2016 academic year. Much attention should be paid to the provision of high-quality data resources for nursing students to develop their theoretical knowledge.
From this point, the steps of the implementation process are the following ones:
- The development of the course programs on cultural competency to combine the theoretical and practical knowledge. The state representatives of the US Department of Education are responsible for developing the course programs. Time scale: the academic year of 2014-2015.
- The approval of the program and revisions. Time scale: the academic year of 2014-2015.
- The preparation of the data sources to provide the necessary materials for the students. The state representatives of the US Department of Education are responsible for the process.
- The implementation of the theoretical courses and immersion programs in the state, district, and local colleges and universities as the basic or additional courses.
Resources Required for the Implementation of the Plan
- Staff: The process involves the representatives of the US Department of Education and educators to develop the additional improved courses.
- Educational Materials: New handouts and textbooks with the more detailed cultural information are necessary to implement the cultural competency courses.
- Assessment Tools: Pre- and post-tests are necessary to help nurses understand their progress.
- Funds associated with the implementation of the plan should be provided to cover the costs of developing the courses’ programs and designing the data sources.
- Supervisors controlling the project should be selected from the state representatives of the US Department of Education in order to monitor the effective integration of the proposed improvements into the nursing curricula.
References
Boyle, J. S., & Hinrichs, J. G. (2013). Madeleine Leininger, PhD, LHD, RN, FRCA, FAAN: A remembrance. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 24(1), 5-6.
Delgado, D. A., Ness, S., Ferguson, K., Engstrom, P. L., Gannon, T. M., & Gillett, C. (2013). Cultural competence training for clinical staff measuring the effect of a one-hour class on cultural competence. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 24(2), 204-213.
Kutob, R. M., Bormanis, J., Crago, M., Harris, J. M., Senf, J., & Shisslak, C. M. (2013). Cultural competence education for practicing physicians. Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions, 33(3), 164-173.
Leininger, M. (1991). Culture care diversity and universality: A theory of nursing. New York: NLN Press.
Ray, M. A. (2013). Madeleine M. Leininger, 1925–2012. Qualitative health research, 23(1), 142-144.