Cultural Competence Reflection

Dr. Galanti provides insight into the relationship between cultural diversity and heath care providers. Dr. Galanti’s briefly states the difference between “stereotype and generalization”. The author recognizes that generalization may be a key factor used by workers in the health care community to bring awareness and a better understanding of cultural differences among patients. The article explains that although cultures differ in values, traditions, and beliefs, there are questions (the 4’C’s of culture) that may open up the line of communication, between provider and

If nurses lack of understanding regarding community demographics and cultural differences, they can have unintentional bias, and stereotype patients due to a lack of awareness of the cultural demographics of the community they serve (Camphinha-Bacote, 2011). Cultural competence is the understanding of different cultures and how that impacts the provision of patient care. Cultural competence in nursing is defined as one willingness or the desire to understand a patient’s culture, the ability to learn about a defined cultures belief system, and to work effectively as a healthcare provider understanding the dynamics of the patient’s culture as it relates to their relationships and care (Kardong-Edgren et Al.,

The article that I chose is Improving Cultural Competence to Reduce Health Disparities for priority Populations. This topic is relevant to social work because it is talking about cultural competence in the health care system and the one major skill that social workers need is cultural competency. This article is also relevant to social work because it talks about the importance of cultural competence in reducing disparities through culturally sensitive and unbiased quality care and since the social work field is all about treating everyone equally and fairly, this article falls right under its relevance. It continues to talk about programs to improve the knowledge of providers on cultural competency and general approaches that have been utilized in creating educational interventions to address cultural competence. This is great because social workers are never done learning, it is always important to train social worker on how to be culturally competent, specially because the populations being served are very diverse therefore, there should always be a way to train service providers on how to have cultural awareness.

Obtaining certification in a specialty area is one way a nurse confirms she has achieved the necessary knowledge and skill within that practice area to be considered above average (Rauen, Shumate, & Gendron-Trainer, 2016). In order to realize my goal of board certification as a master’s prepared informatics nurse, I must first gain the required education, expertise, and competence through classes and practice experiences. This paper will discuss how each MSN core course, each MSN specialty course, and each potential practice experience will improve upon the competencies needed to obtain board certification in informatics after obtaining my MSN from American Sentinel University.

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.

One of the most integral parts of cultural competency is the process of successfully becoming culturally competent. After synthesizing available research on the topic I have constructed four main steps in becoming culturally competent. Those include self-awareness, understanding various aspects of the culturally diverse population for whom you care for, practice evidence based medicine as it relates to culturally diverse populations and continuing education (Kodjo, 2009; Purnell, 2012).

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 competency has the potential to reduce inequities in access to health services and improve the health status of diverse cultural

Cultural competency is found within different settings however, the setting which will be discussed in this paper will apply to a school setting. A school setting is where social workers “enhance the social and emotional growth and academic outcomes of all students” (SSWAA, n.d.). Furthermore, social workers not only work with students but also, work with parents, school administration, food department, special needs department, and school health services (nursing department). In conclusion, in this paper the culturally competent social work practice of working with the Latino community will be further discussed and analyzed.

The way a person thinks about health, “whether that is our ‘philosophy’, our ‘worldview’, our ‘framework’ influences what we do as individuals in practice,” as well as how we deliver the health service. These elements allow us to think about healthcare in our own culturally acceptable way, this isn’t always an acceptable way of delivering the service to people with views different to our own. Cultural competence is an approach that aids in influencing the service and the education of healthcare professionals. (Taylor, K., & Guerin, P., 2010).

Emphasis on cultural sensitivity and awareness is most efficacious in resolving cultural competency because the solution is both practical and simple. By providing training programs within health care settings that specifically focus on cultural sensitivity and awareness, physicians will learn to respond effectively to their Hispanic patients’ needs that show knowledge of their cultural differences. “One-size-fits all” types of prevention and treatment models cannot be applied to Hispanic patients and expect beneficial outcomes, thus “the challenge is for physicians to move beyond their belief systems and values and expand their world views to validate how others function”

Cultural competence affects the patient and healthcare professional positively. Healthcare professionals can gain knowledge and skills to tailor to a patient’s satisfaction. A study by Soulé (2014), identified awareness, engagement, and application as the fundamental components of cultural competence in a health care workforce and health care system. Awareness can be likened to mindfulness of self and others. A health professional should understand their own culture, such as their naturally occurring stereotypes. Health care workers should be able to accept different cultural beliefs to create an understanding work environment. A healthcare workforce can achieve cultural competence by accepting new information and knowledge and having the ability to respect different perspectives. Engagement can be demonstrated through the intention to engage leading to the process of engagement and thus eliciting outcomes such as empathy, where participants in Soulé’s (2014) study understood flexibility, such as listening not hearing and being a learner and a professional, was needed for communication. The application is the combination of knowledge and skills that aid a workforce to include, respond to and negotiate. Soulé’s (2014) study found this component was less developed than the others. To develop this element of cultural

Did you know that I appreciate your positive attitude and that reflects during class on how you approach other class mates and how you relate to their experiences. In regards of your post here I agree that Cultural Competencies are a set of beliefs that needs to be taught and passed on from an early age and preferable long before people are taking courses that relate to Human Services and working with different populations. While class room and work experiences are a great start I question if it is enough when a worker in this field goes home after 8 hours and relapses back into her or his own cultural experiences. While some of us experience other diversities and cultures during our practicum site it might also be effective to eat and sleep

The Birch, Ruttan, Muth, & Baydala (2009) article though focused on cultural competence, highlights some relevant ideas such as “incorporating a reflective and learner-based approach in health care delivery” (p. 30), integrating “traditional practices or approaches when the client needs or wants them” (Dobbelsteyn, 2006, p. 34 as cited on p. 30), and acknowledging the diversity amongst Indigenous

Cultural diversity is becoming increasingly important in the workplace. This is particularly true in the medical field facing demographic shifts in the patients served and their families. The clash between western medicine and non-American culture becomes persistent as immigrants increase and so the significance of a mutual understanding of culture and medicine between a doctor and patient becomes more obvious. Anne Fadiman, in “The Spirit catches you and you fall down” intersperses anecdotes and uses precise writing to make her audience understand the significance of cultural sensitivity and the role

There is a difference between cultural awareness, cultural sensitivity, and cultural competence. Cultural awareness is refers to the perception of principles from similarities and differences of cultures. Next, Cultural sensitivity is an understanding that you know traditional differences occur. Lastly, cultural competence are things that makes an individual knowledgeable, such as having being aware of different cultures differences and