Many aspects factor heavily when it comes to the matters of health. Several of them have potential of actually impairing one’s functional abilities – for example, drug abuse, unsafe work conditions, and obesity due to overeating and lack of exercise. These three risk factors can severely impact human health and cause specific impairments. Drug abuse heavily damages nervous system and internal organs, unsafe work conditions may result in traumas and injuries, and obesity is the leading reason of type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and heart diseases.
Nurses have the unique opportunity to witness patients and their families at their most vulnerable moments. Therefore, it is imperative that they understand and respect their cultural background in order to deliver high quality, compassionate care. Kaihlanen et al. (2019) explicitly state that “a lack of cultural understanding increases negative attitudes towards cross-cultural care and also affects healthcare professionals’ perceived preparedness to take care of culturally diverse patients” (p. 2). The need for this specific cultural competence – immersion into another culture – currently stands rather acute in the health care system. A good example is presented by the barriers to treatment Latino population with substance use disorder experiences. According to the SAMHSA (2019) National Survey on Drug Use, 91% of Hispanic Americans with SUD are unable to receive the treatment that they need at a specialty facility such as rehabilitation clinics. A significant factor that contributes to the question of unreachable treatment is the fact that, generally, health care programs are not culturally tailored. The nurses do not have enough knowledge about the Latino culture, thus, they are not able to provide the struggling people with the intervention they would accept.
Nurses should constantly engage in learning to improve and enhance their understanding of cultural competence. Lack of competent knowledge of both one’s own and someone else’s culture is one of the main causes of conflicts, crises, and misunderstandings. Finally, a tolerant and empathetic approach should be cultivated in the nursing practice, calling the health care workers to adapt healthy mechanisms of interacting with patients and their families. In other words, it is necessary for nurses to get rid of culture-centrism in assessing people’s behavior, actively forming an intercultural tolerance. Only in a tolerant environment can exist a healthy communication with people of a different culture, openness, and freedom from prejudice.
References
Kaihlanen, A.-M., Hietapakka, L., & Heponiemi, T. (2019). Increasing cultural awareness: Qualitative study of nurses’ perceptions about cultural competence training. BMC Nursing, 18(1). Web.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2019). 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health Detailed Tables.