Cultural Competent Nursing

To be culturally competent, nurses must first be culturally aware and sensitive (Fletcher, 1997). Leininger stated that nursing is truly a transcultural phenomenon. Having understanding and knowledge about your patients’ beliefs, cultural values, and practices is essential to providing nursing care that is holistic. “Increasing diversity and mobility of society accentuate an important need for professional nurses to render holistic, culturally competent nursing care” (Ryan et al., 2000). People come from different cultural background with different values and beliefs. What is acceptable in one culture may not be acceptable in another. People have the right to get quality care that has been tailored to them, while also maintaining their cultural

The nurses need to determine if the care knowledge the patient had needed to be preserved, accommodated or repatterned. Involve families and support system if approved by the patient for emotional and moral support. Patient may be able to express him or herself if they feel that their nurse respects their cultural values. The patient is more likely to buy into a treatment plan if the nurse preserves some of the patient cultural values. When language is a barrier, providing the right interpreter is beneficial in other to prevent wrong information being given to patient or nurses. Nurses have to be culturally aware of dietary restrictions, for example certain cultures do not eat pork, it would be impolite to pass food or med to an Arab patient, this is considered an insult By working together the nurse and the patient can create a new or modified care that is beneficial the

The Hispanic culture has been characterized into an accepted framework of values; these values are centered on family, respect, folk healing, religion and the importance of language. For example in the Hispanic community, it is a form of respect to use tittles such as Señor, Señora, and so on to address the client. They often will nod their head out of respect, but that does not mean that they understood what was being said. In other to prevent miscommunication, have the client clarify the communication to make sure they understand when was said. Hispanic communities are big on family; they have a strong sense of family care and obligation. In order to understand the individual it is essential to understand how the family function as a unit and in-cooperate this values. So during communication and education address the group instead of the individual about health care intervention. Understanding the cultural factors influencing a specific culture goes beyond identifying their cultural trait. It is important to understand how culture plays an important role in their social context and environment. But also be aware that other factor other then culture may affect their healthcare decision. Other factors may include but are not limited to location and access to