Culturally Competent Nursing
With the large increase multicultural population in the United States, nurses encounter patients with differences in healthcare beliefs, values and customs. To provide adequate nursing care, nurses must be aware of these differences. They must respect and acknowledge the patient’s culture. To do this, nurses need education on cultural competence to ensure patient satisfaction and better patient outcomes.
According to Migration Policy institute, the Census Bureau's 2009 American Community Survey, the US immigrant population was 38,517,234, or 12.5 percent of the total US population. They also state that nearly one-quarter of the 7.9 million children under 17 in 2009 had at least one immigrant parent. It is important to note that these numbers are on the rise.
Due to these rapidly increasing numbers, nurses need to be culturally competent. Culturally competent nurses recognize their own background and sets aside biases and prejudices. They also value diversity and have the ability to appreciate cultural differences. Culturally competent nurses are able to work with people from diverse cultures, care for them while being aware of their culture patterns. Culturally competent nurses also need to have good communication skills and be efficient in performing cultural assessments (http://currentnursing.com/nursing_theory/transcultural_nursing.html, 2012).
A little bit of history: Madeleine Leininger is the founder of the theory of transcultural nursing, also known as the Culture Care Theory. In 1950 while working with children, she recognized an absence of cultural and care knowledge. According to Leininger, this missing piece was the key for nurses to comprehend differences in patient care to sustain compliance, healing and wellness. These perceptions established the beginnings of what is today called transcultural nursing. Transcultural nursing is one of the oldest theories that acknowledge the diverse cultures of the world. It pointed out the need for culturally
According to Migration Policy institute, the Census Bureau's 2009 American Community Survey, the US immigrant population was 38,517,234, or 12.5 percent of the total US population. They also state that nearly one-quarter of the 7.9 million children under 17 in 2009 had at least one immigrant parent. It is important to note that these numbers are on the rise.
Due to these rapidly increasing numbers, nurses need to be culturally competent. Culturally competent nurses recognize their own background and sets aside biases and prejudices. They also value diversity and have the ability to appreciate cultural differences. Culturally competent nurses are able to work with people from diverse cultures, care for them while being aware of their culture patterns. Culturally competent nurses also need to have good communication skills and be efficient in performing cultural assessments (http://currentnursing.com/nursing_theory/transcultural_nursing.html, 2012).
A little bit of history: Madeleine Leininger is the founder of the theory of transcultural nursing, also known as the Culture Care Theory. In 1950 while working with children, she recognized an absence of cultural and care knowledge. According to Leininger, this missing piece was the key for nurses to comprehend differences in patient care to sustain compliance, healing and wellness. These perceptions established the beginnings of what is today called transcultural nursing. Transcultural nursing is one of the oldest theories that acknowledge the diverse cultures of the world. It pointed out the need for culturally
Bibliography: http://currentnursing.com/nursing_theory/transcultural_nursing.html. (2012, January). Transcultural Nursing. Retrieved from Nursing Theories A companion to nursing theories and models. Jeanne Batalova, A. T. (2010, December). http://www.migrationinformation.org/feature/display.cfm?ID=818. Retrieved from Migration Information source. Leininger, M. (1978). Transcultural nursing. Thorofare, NJ. Maier-Lorentz, M. (2008 Journal Of Cultural Diversity). Transcultural nursing: its importance in nursing practice. Journal Of Cultural Diversity, 37-43. .