Introduction
Cultural competency is assumed to be the capability of acquiring particular behaviors, abilities, approaches, and strategies in a structure that allows efficiency in a cross-cultural work environment. With the growth of traditionally diverse inhabitants in the United States, it is critical for nurses to perform their duties without prejudice. Cultural competence in nursing has become a common concern worldwide due to documented health inequalities related to ethnicity, race, and culture.
Healthcare providers have realized that a cultural competency is an integral approach that can enhance the delivery of medical services among minorities in a given society to reduce health disparities. Furthermore, cultural knowledge can help improve clinical practice by considering evidence-based research which has greatly advanced the provision of effective care to patients. Therefore, being culturally competent is crucial in the medical care sector since nurses who acknowledge and respects a client’s health beliefs and practices are more likely to attain beneficial health results.
How Culturally Competent Care is Crucial to the Practice of Nursing
There is a great need for nursing practice to concentrate on a specific understanding of cultural capabilities to establish high-quality care. Variations between different societies play a vital role in shaping clinical techniques since cultural traditions are essential to delivering quality care. The nursing career should concentrate on particular cultural aspects within a given setting to guarantee a quality understanding of improving its performance effectively.
The overall emphasis on cultural competencies is a critical factor that ensures that medical procedures are not undermined. This competency involves a wide variety of habits, attitudes, values and policies that characterize a given framework to build a better working atmosphere (Hays, 2016). As a result, different societies have varied cultural aspects that characterize their overall responsiveness. There is a critical need to acknowledge that current disparities are well recognized to promote the nursing practice.
Respect is an essential aspect of cultural competence since patients who feel their caregivers respect their beliefs, conducts, principles, language, and traditions are more expected to interact easily and honestly, which could, in turn, lessen inequalities in the medical care field and improve client results. Therefore, cultural competence is needed in the health care sector since it allows the caregiver to provide quality care to all patients, resulting to great gratification and upkeep to the sick person.
Relationship Between Cultural Competency and Diversity
A community nurse needs to gain cultural competence skills to provide equal and all-inclusive social healthcare without prejudice. Nursing is expected to offer methods that aid in supporting students with education about ethnic and cultural differences, common ideals, and medical care behavior. An example of bias in healthcare is the assumption that Latino patients have the same healthy habits and values (Hays, 2016).
While it is impossible to understand every cultural belief, nurses should obtain standardized skills and training strategies. To gain cultural competence, clinical personnel should have sympathy, respect, modesty, and curiosity. They are supposed to take the client’s medical background, collect useful details about the patient’s interests and principles, and recognize that culture is an important part of healthcare.
In America, health systems have implemented extensive procedures so that healthcare practitioners can fulfill the medical needs of minority groups. Such an approach is important since there is an improvement in regulatory requirements to facilitate medical responsiveness because demographic diversity has heightened over time (Giger & Haddad, 2021). It is also clear that hospitals have developed cultural competence awareness since it has proven to be beneficial. Similarly, patients’ and healthcare professionals’ participation and involvement can only be stimulated when there is a development of cultural knowledge in healthcare, particularly when working with clients from minority communities.
Another significant aspect that facilitates cultural competence is the elimination of the language impediment. Similarly, societal understanding has made it possible for nurses to build meaningful relationships with clients for collective gain. In this way, both parties can easily share cultural views and address their disparities and feel the need to question their traditional actions constantly. In healthcare, practitioners use a common language to interact with patients where other personnel can involve translators to assist in the discussion whenever there is no shared dialect. Thus, ensuring that the individual is contented with the medical attention they are providing is the nurse’s ultimate gratification.
Limitations of Cultural Competency in Healthcare
The first obstacle to incorporating cultural competencies in healthcare is the language problem and other communication-related challenges. A patient may feel frustrated and have limited understanding whenever common language is not used (Peer, 2017). When an individual receives low-quality treatment, it is the fault of the medical professional. For example, Latinos who only speak Spanish may not obtain adequate healthcare since they cannot explain their health problems to English-speaking physicians. Secondly, persons suffering from chronic illnesses need proper contact with healthcare professionals, or their conditions could worsen (Dean, 2017).
Regrettably, some nurses would not like to adjust to the changing healthcare system and are therefore not culturally competent. As a result, patients who suffer from severe ailments tend to be at increased risk of detrimental reactions and may also feel disappointed with the service provided. For instance, there is little nurse-patient engagement with non-white clients. Therefore, clear and effective communication is an essential tool in advancing healthcare services.
Recommendations
First, discrimination or bias-related issues in health services must be addressed. Institutions should also establish procedures that can help address language-related hindrances to eradicate a restricting factor in healthcare. Another suggestion is to include translators who can aid with interpretations so that physicians can document the appropriate medical status of clients since health systems must be fair, satisfying and timely.
Furthermore, medical centers should have the cultural competence to ensure that the delivery of services is non-discriminatory. It would also help by recruiting, training, and retaining staff from the marginalized population as this would aid in increasing confidence among the minority groups. Another proposition would be to find ways of coordinating with qualified and recognized traditional healers and also utilize the services of community health workers. Above everything, all healthcare professionals should undergo appropriate training to provide equivalent services in a culturally competent manner. Therefore, the implementation of the above proposals would ensure effective and efficient services to everyone regardless of their culture, belief or religion.
Conclusion
It is worth remembering that cultural competence is not the ultimate objective but rather a mechanism that needs to be influenced in various aspects, including health experience and awareness. Consequently, healthcare employees should be furnished with knowledge about cultural competence and the prevailing diversity in medical care. This would provide space for implementing a solid plan that will significantly upgrade healthcare quality. Thus, the responsible authorities should ensure that some medical training sessions are free for all caregivers.
References
Dean, E. (2017). Cultural competency. Nursing Management, 23(9), 11-11. Web.
Giger, J. N., & Haddad, L. G. (2021). Transcultural nursing: Assessment and intervention (8th ed.). Mosby.
Hays, P. A. (2016). Addressing cultural complexities in practice: Assessment, diagnosis, and therapy (3rd ed.). American Psychological Association.
Peer, N. (2017). Evaluating Cultural Competency Concepts Using Program Theory-Driven Evaluation Framework. Nursing Education Perspectives, 38(6), 337-339. Web.