Nurses need to be culturally sensitive to provide competent care. The cumulative diversity within the healthcare workforce itself has received much less attention; yet without attending to increasing diversity in both groups, it is doubtful that efforts to improve cultural competence will be successful. One may be aware of many different cultures, but due to one’s biases, he or she will still not provide the appropriate care. In order for healthcare providers to become culturally competent they need to have the desire, skills, awareness and knowledge. Cultural competence among primary care givers is crucial to identify problems and create proper plans of care for the patient.…
There are two categories of vitamins needed in the human body. The first are water-soluble vitamins, such as B/B-complex and C. The second category is fat-soluble vitamins, such as vitamins A, D, E, and K. Water-soluble vitamins are absorbed in the intestine. Once the intestine absorbs them, the circulatory system carries them to certain tissues. Fat-soluble vitamins are absorbed in the intestines also, but the lymph system carries the vitamins to the various parts of the body. These vitamins are responsible for maintaining the structure of the cell membranes. The water- soluble vitamins, including Vitamin C and all of the B complex vitamins, are not stored in the body are quickly depleted by bodily processes, or excreted in urine and perspiration.…
Cultural safety plays an important role in nursing ethics. However, ethics is probably one of the most frequently applied yet commonly misunderstood components have missing practice. Everyday nurses make decisions about what is the right course of action but sometimes nurses make mistakes and pursue the wrong course and occasionally who will be called upon to explain the reasoning behind their decisions. Although much of this will be clinical there will be those times when the conditions are ambiguous where there are competing and conflicting claims. Cultural safety in its most practical sense provides a framework for making the best decision in any given situation with such dilemmas arise. It provides guidance for rules for right and wrong…
Flowers, D. (2004). Culturally Competent Nursing Care A Challenge for the 21st Century. Critical Care Nurse, 24(4), 87-87. Retrieved February 10, 2015, from http://ccn.aacnjournals.org/content/24/4.toc…
As nurses, we not only need to understand cultural competence, but we also have to be sure not to generalize groups of people. Each client is an individual, and it is important to form a therapeutic relationship so we can care for each specific client. Each client has his/her own needs; just because two people are of the same culture, it doesn’t mean that he/she believes in the same thing. In turn, nurses need to understand their own culture and beliefs before caring for a person of a different culture or beliefs. In our research, we chose four peer-reviewed, scholarly journal articles found though the Lambton College data base (CINAHL). We began with a search of cultural competency and then narrowed the search down through specific cultures which are within the Sarnia Lambton area.…
Thank you for feedback regarding the importance of therapeutic communication in delivering care. While conducting research, I stumbled upon an interesting website entitled Think Cultural Health designed by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS); Office of Minority Health. The website contains a wealth of knowledge, promoting cultural competency in healthcare. One interesting feature is an e-learning program entitled Culturally Competent Nursing Care: A Cornerstone of Caring, which was created to provide health care professionals with the skills necessary to deliver cultural and linguistically competent care (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2013). This e-learning course is a great resource for anyone looking…
spiritual, and psychosocial beliefs, as well as that of the support person(s). In addition, an…
Healthcare is an area where cultural can play a major role in the overall health and wellness of an individual. Providers need to be sensitive to the patient’s traditional ways of medicine while combined with the traditional western method of medicine. Healthcare professionals also need to be aware of the plethora of languages and dialects that are now part of the American population as well as religious beliefs. Barker (2009) identifies these factors to prevent bias or stereotyping of the patient. Nurses are patient advocates and to ensure that the patient needs are being met, this group will need to utilize their skills to bridge that gap between cultural competence and cultural conflict. For nurses to be able to effectively do this there needs to be…
Dying is part of the normal process of living, but that isn’t to say that dealing with death is an easy feat. Thus, it is important for nurses to understand their patients’ cultural background in order to provide culturally competent and compassionate care at the end of life. Culturally competent medical care for the dying patient by nurses and healthcare providers alike is a challenging task, especially when religious values, practices, and beliefs influence the treatment decisions for patients as the end of life nears. The purpose of this paper is to discover cultural practices among the Jewish community at the end of life.…
Maier-Lorentz, M.M. (2008, Spring). Transcultural nursing: its importance in nursing practice. Journal of Cultural Diversity, 15(1), 37-43. Retrieved December 4, 2012 from University of Phoenix Library, MEDLINE with Full Text.…
According to the United States Census Bureau (2010), over 30% of the total population in the United States is comprised of various ethnicities other than non-Hispanic Whites. This statistic highlights that the United States (US) has a significant multicultural population today. These diverse cultures bring with them new languages, religious beliefs and practices, social structures, and health care beliefs and practices. These cultural differences can create barriers in the healthcare industry and can be challenging to those healthcare providers who are caring for these individuals. As a result, these ethnic minorities often experience poorer access to care and lower quality of preventive, primary, and specialty care. The Hmong are one of the ethnic minority groups listed in the U.S. population. Currently there are more than 170,000 Hmong living in the United States. The majority of Hmong in the U.S. currently reside in California, Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Michigan.…
Cultural competence in nursing is defined as the incorporation of personal cultural diversity experience, awareness, and sensitivity into everyday practice ( Schim & Dorenbos,2010; Schim, Dorenbos, Benkert, & Miller, 2007). A nurse that is culturally competent will be able to gain the trust, understanding, and utmost respect of a patient that has a different cultural background or holds a different set of beliefs. Cultural competence is important now more than ever as the population grows and becomes more racially diverse. Asians and non white Hispanics are the largest growing minority groups in the United States, and a culturally competent nurse will be able to deliver care to every patient they encounter. Hispanics are less likely than the…
Husband C and Hoffman E (2007) Transcultural health care practice: Transcultural Communication and Health Care Practice. Royal College of Nursing. http://www.rcn.org.uk/resources/transcultural/communication/index.php…
Leininger notes the main goal of transcultural nursing is to provide culturally specific care. But before transcultural nursing can be adequately understood, there must be a basic knowledge of key terminology such as culture, cultural values, culturally diverse nursing care, ethnocentrism, race, and…
Vitale, Anne Ph.D. (1997a, April 2). Notes on Gender Transition: Gender Identity Disorder: A Brief Description of the Problem. [On-Line]. Available: http://www.avitale.com/Gender_Identity_Disorder_.html.…