Cultural Competence In Health Care Essay

After taking the self-assessment survey for quality and culture, I would like to improve and understand how cultural competence can have a real impact on clinical outcomes. Taking from some of the questions I answered wrong, it make me wants to be cultural competent. There are a few questions I am surprised and shocked, that I answered them incorrectly. I do understand that with training, I will start to gain cultural competence but it will take consistent individual practice on my part to develop and maintain individual cultural competence. Cultural competence can lead to, health literacy, health equity, and fewer diagnostic errors, which might help the patient expand their choices and access high quality medical providers because patient

Cultural competency can be described as the ability to interact with different cultures in a positive manner. Many cultural differences can become apparent in a number of situations. According to Fadiman, doctors have a moral duty to save lives even if they don’t agree with the values or beliefs of someone else’s culture (1997). This paper will address the topic of cultural competency, with a concentration on the importance of cultural competency in the medical field. It is hard to imagine how frustrating it may be to come across a patient that resists a professional’s opinion because they have solid beliefs or do not understand what doctors are attempting to convey.

Medical providers that have cultural competency will overall enhance the quality of care to a diverse group of patients. Having that cultural knowledge would help the medical provider make the patient feel comfortable ultimately increasing the chance for that patient to follow through or adhere to the medical provider's treatment plan. It would also allow the medical provider to help build a friendly nurturing relationship with all of his or her patients. Developing these friendly relationships with patients will help make the patient worry less about a difficult diagnosis and would give them hope that they could one day get better from it. When a medical provider is culturally competent they would know how to respond to certain medical scenarios

Cultural competency is increasingly important in healthcare today. In America today, we are facing a lot of tension between cultures today. America is a very diverse country with many cultures co-existing and in order to properly care for patients professionals need to be able to understand and tend to their cultural needs. Whether it be a difference in language, understanding that someone is a veteran and how that may affect them psychologically, or any other set of circumstances that surround a specific culture. Having the knowledge and resources that cater to different cultures makes for better experiences across the board and, consequently, makes for more effective healthcare visits.

Cultural competence is seen as being able to master a skill-set (Barlow, Reading, & Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network, 2008) rather than analyzing power imbalances, institutional discrimination, colonization and colonial relationships (NAHO, 2006 as cited in Charlotte Loppie’s presentation). “Cultural safety emphasizes relationships of trust in which the patient determines whether the care is ‘safe’” (Barlow, Reading, & Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network, 2008, p. 3). I really like the term “relational care” introduced in the as the Barlow, Reading, and Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network (2008) article as the term “is rooted in the connections within and relationships among Aboriginal people and health care providers” which is grounded in the traditional teachings and values of Indigenous Peoples (p.

In a culturally diverse country like the United States, healthcare professionals such as nurses will work with people of different cultural backgrounds who have different view of health and illness. Mcgoldrick, Giordano & Preto (2006) concluded that a sense of well-being in terms of physical and mental health within a societal context is strongly affected by cultural identity. Shared values, behaviors, beliefs and ethno-cultural attitudes of a community influence life experiences and decision we make (Yolanda & Griselda, 2006). With this in mind, it is essential for the nurses recognize the importance patients’ cultural values rooted in their health seeking behaviors. Culture Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines culture as a

It trains health care providers to overcome cultural barriers like communication and language. Cultural competency has the potential to reduce inequities in access to health care services and improve the health status of cultural communities by reducing healthcare disparities. The goal of cultural competency is to provide health care to the community that is respectful of and responsive to the needs of diverse patients. It helps the health care provider to understand the needs of patients while seeking treatment. It helps to patient-provider to meet on common ground in the diagnosis and treatment plan of the disease.

Cultural competence is “the ability to communicate with, understand and effectively interact with people across cultures” (EYLF, 2015) Some legislation to keep in mind: • Belonging Being and Becoming The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia. - P. 16 Cultural Competence • Early Childhood Australia – Code of Ethics. Inclusivity and Cultural Responsiveness • The National Quality Standards – Relationships with children. Collaborative partnership with families and communities • Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 • Racial Discrimination Act 1975 • Anti-discrimination Act 1991 - OUR PHILISIOPHY

Cultural Competency means you are "pro-active in promoting cultural diversity and Seek opportunities to improve cultural relationships" (Cultural Competency by Brannon). Cultural competency in the health care sector is vital to giving accurate health care given the vast array of races, cultures and ethnicities we live among. If a healthcare practitioner were culturally inept, they are unable, unwilling or lack the skills to become competent in understanding and embracing cultural differences. As it pertains to healthcare, we can't apply treatment and diagnostics with a broad brush. We have to be able to take deeper look at everyone's culture, background and understand lineage and inherited characteristics.

Cultural competence introduces the technique by which individuals and organizations respond politely and effectively to people of all the culture, languages, races, ethnic, classes, religions, background, and other diversity component in a way which observes, maintains, and values the worth of human being, families, and communities and safeguards and preserves the dignity of all. Cultural competence is a set of harmonious behaviors, characters, and polices which come together in a system organization to work effectively in cross-cultural situations. Competence is considered an ethical standard because it implies having the ability to function effectively in the context of culturally integrated pattern (NSAW, 2000b,

They also need to know the various disease of the different populations they serve. “Cultural competency includes the capacity to identify, understand, and respect the values and beliefs of others.” (Culturally Competent Healthcare Systems,

Cultural Competence in the education care service is to have the correct knowledge, values, principles, policies and procedures in place to be able to successfully create a service that is culturally safe, culturally sensitive and culturally aware. This ensures that families and children from a different culture feel as though they belong. As an educator ‘cultural competence’ is to have the skill and ability to be able to communicate with people from a range of different cultures, as well as having a positive attitude towards cultural differences. It is to be a role model for the children and provide an anti-bias approach at all times.

Cultural competency: Indians Culture competency is defined as one has the knowledge, the abilities and the skill to deliver care congruent with the patient’s cultural beliefs and practices (Purnell, 2013). As a nurse or a health care provider, increasing ones consciousness of culture diversity improves the possibilities for health care practitioners to provide competent care (Purnell, 2013). Nurses and all health care providers should be aware of other cultures to provide the best care that they can for that individual. Developing a relationship with diverse cultural groups involves good interpersonal skills and the application of knowledge and techniques learned from the physical, biological, and social sciences as well as the humanities (Purnell, 2013). I am choosing to select the Indian culture for my first assignment.

5) Cultural desire is the continuous motivation to lead oneself to be cultural competent. All of these aspects are integral to understanding of the cultural issues and eventual creation of the cultural competence. It is a conscious developed model that aims at promoting the competence to provide health care services within the realms and the contexts of the cultural

In medical practice, it is often emphasized that physicians must practice cultural competence in an attempt to achieve better diagnosis, intervention and treatment via approaching the patient in a holistic manner. Regrettably, the definition of cultural competence and let alone culture is often mistakenly interpreted, nor is it unified. Borrowing from Greon’s ideas, Wilson argues that “differing understandings of cultural competence present challenges in terms of accurately and reliably capturing its meaning, making its measurement problematic” (Greon as cited in Wilson, 208, p.14). This essay will tease out the subtleties in efforts to elucidate any misunderstandings around term ‘culture’ from an anthropological perspective, whilst exploring its relevance to medical practice.