Elements Of Cultural Competence

Culturally Competent Care
Name: Kristin Jones
Institution: Excelsior College

Introduction
Cultural competence care is borrowed from the aspects of cultural competence in any other work or personal environment. Cultural competence refers to the aspect of developing awareness of the personal existence, thought, sensation as well as the environment, without letting this knowledge have any form of influence on other people’s backgrounds, thoughts and opinions (Murphy, 2011). This means that one has to respect the cultural aspects of those around them, by accepting and appreciating their differences without any form of prejudice. When this element of cultural awareness is introduced in the nursing field, cultural competence care thus
The most important aspect of health care delivery that is centered on the patient is that the nurse needs to respect the decision of the patient (Douglas et al., 2011). This aspect is due to the fact that, the patients are supposed to be incorporated in every other decision that the nurse and other members of the health care team have to make over the life and treatment of the patient. With close reference to the aspect of cultural differences, there are patients that will be particularly cautious of their cultural beliefs and in most of the cases will want these beliefs to be respected and maintained at all times. As mentioned earlier, these beliefs may range from, diets, clothing, gender of the attendant, religious observations to matters relating to pain, healing and death (Peterson-Iyer, 2014). As such the nurse has to work with the patient and the family to come to an understanding and agreement on the best way forward. In an example, it is common for registered nurses to be faced with patients who do not want to be attended by nurses of the opposite sex. It is important that the nurses understand that this is not the patient’s way of saying that they do not need help. They just want help that coincides with their cultural beliefs, which they are entitled to at
This mostly cuts across the age divide, for the children, youngsters and the old (Douglas et al., 2011). Communicating the importance to the families or the patient to try the modern medical practices is important. This is due to the fact that it can be difficult to convince an asymptomatic patient that they are ill (Taylor, 2011). The end of life experience takes different shapes across the age divide. In the case of the children, the families may believe that their child has been bewitched and may require performing cleansing rituals. At the same time, the rituals are also directed at helping the diseased join their next life and find peace, whether old or young.
Conclusion
Nursing practices have been revolutionized over time, and delivery of care to the patient is no longer the mandate of the medical teams alone (Murphy, 2011). Patient-centered care is the baseline for most of the health care services across the globe. With reference to the globalization levels and the multicultural interactions, nurses have to develop cross-cultural competency skills. Culturally Competent Nursing Care skills are crucial for any one that wants to be a registered nurse (Douglas et al.,