Cultural Competency

Cultural CompetencyNameInstitutionInstructorCourseDate Cultural CompetencyCultural competence is the ability to understand and relate with different cultures. This aspect is important in healthcare due to the diverse aspects of patients and employees in a healthcare system (Nash, 2016). It is important for healthcare practitioners to be culturally competent, as this will enable them to understand and communicate with individuals from other cultures without being influenced by one’s own culture. A nurse can gather cultural information from patients through patient assessments (Nash, 2016). These assessments provide information relating to different aspects of the patient, which include sociocultural and spiritual aspects. By interacting with the patient, a nurse is also able to build trust, which strengthens the patient-nurse relationship (Nash, 2016). This is important in enabling the nurse to collect information related to the patient’s culture. Cultural competence relates to better patient care by enabling healthcare practitioners to implement effective healthcare interventions directed to specific patients from different cultural backgrounds (Jongen et al., 2018). Culturally competent nurses will provide healthcare services to patients from diverse backgrounds without discrimination or influence from their own cultural perspectives. This may also be helpful in enhancing patient education, which may help patients to implement certain healthcare interventions successfully (Jongen et al., 2018). Cultural competence minimizes the health disparities between racial and ethnic groups, which enable different individuals to access quality healthcare services. This is because culturally competent nurses are able to identify challenges experienced by different cultural groups in accessing health care services (Jongen et al., 2018). This will lead to the development of effective strategies to address these challenges and enable the groups to access quality healthcare services. A nurse can demonstrate cultural competency in nursing practice in different ways, which include respecting diverse cultural groups. Respecting other cultures is important in avoiding discrimination and enhancing trust between different patients from diverse backgrounds (Truong, Paradies, & Priest, 2014). This will lead to a strong patient-nurse relationship, which will lead to cooperation between the two parties, which is important in the decision-making process. A nurse can also demonstrate cultural competency by engaging patients during patient assessments in order to collect cultural information from the patient’s perspective (Truong, Paradies, & Priest, 2014). This will enable the nurse to avoid any judgments about certain cultures by having a clear knowledge about the patient’s cultural perspective. This will help the nurse in providing effective care aimed at addressing the specific needs of the patient, which may be different compared to the needs of patients from other cultures (Truong, Paradies, & Priest, 2014). ReferencesJongen, C., McCalman, J., Bainbridge, R., & Clifford, A. (2018). Cultural Competence in Health: A Review of the Evidence. Singapore: Springer.Nash, D. B. (2016). Population health: Creating a culture of wellness. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.Truong, M., Paradies, Y., & Priest, N. (2014). Interventions to improve cultural competency in healthcare: a systematic review of reviews. BMC health services research, 14, 99.