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Describing the importance of cultural competence in nursing
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Leininger's Transcultural Nursing Theory
Edward B. Taylor (1903) defined culture as “that complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.” Clifford Geertz's (1973) culture definition was “the fabric of meaning in terms of which human beings interpret their experience and guide their action.” In 1990, Richard Fox went on to say that culture was “a set of understandings and a consciousness under active construction by which individuals interpret the world around them...or a tool kit or set of scenarios that individuals use to implement or to stage their daily life” (Vandenberg, 2010, p. 240). However defined, culture has the power to influence nursing care. Medeleine Leininger was the first to produce a theory and model stressing the importance of cultural care, or health care that incorporates the patient's cultural practices and needs. The goal of Leininger's Theory of Cultural Care Diversity and Universality (1978) was to expose the existence of varying cultural needs and behaviors (Vandenberg, 2010, p. 241).
Possessing personal aspirations of charitable and global nursing care, I believe the integration of cultural care, and its body of knowledge, into nursing care to be extremely important. It will help the nurse to understand how to individualize patient care plans relative to the patient's culture. I hope to acquire the understanding regarding common or uncommon health problems and treatments relative to race, nationality, culture, religion and lifestyle. While these factors are extending characteristics of transcultural care, I do not intend to go into detail pertaining to specific cultures and their connec...
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...al., 2013, p. 80).
References
Ansuya. (2012). Transcultural nursing: cultural competence in nurses. International Journal Of Nursing Education, 4(1), 5-7.
Law, K., & John, W. (2012). Homelessness as culture: How transcultural nursing theory can assist caring for the homeless. Nurse Education In Practice, 12(6), 371-374. doi:10.1016/j.nepr.2012.04.010
Lowe, J., & Archibald, C. (2009). Cultural diversity: the intention of nursing. Nursing Forum, 44(1), 11-18. doi:10.1111/j.1744-6198.2009.00122.x
Potter, P. A., & Perry, A. G. (2013). Fundamentals of nursing (8th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby.
Sagar, P. L. (2012). Transcultural nursing theory and models. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company, LLC.
Vandenberg, H. (2010). Culture theorizing past and present: trends and challenges. Nursing Philosophy, 11(4), 238-249. doi:10.1111/j.1466-769X.2010.00453.x
...the formal and explicit cognitive practice learned through educational institutions. This type of practice is focused on the professional knowledge and care that nurses are taught in a educational establishment. Nurses provide (McFarland and Wehbe-Alamah 2015, p.14).assistive and supportive care for patients, along with the proper training to improve a patient 's health, prevent illnesses, and/or help with the dying. Taking the Culture Care Theory and ethnonursing research methods helps a nurse in the transcultural field provide culturally congruent care. This gives the nurses the ability to expand their knowledges and apply or teach their discoveries when interacting with a variety of diverse cultures. The form to obtain these new discoveries is presented in the most naturalistic and open way possible to keep a comforting relationship between the nurse and patient.
Leininger’s theory of nursing: Cultural care diversity and universality (1998). Nursing Science Quarterly. 1(152) DOI: 10.1177/089431848800100408
Cultural genograms are useful in expanding one’s awareness of the effects of culture on an individual. In turn, this can aid in understanding how other people are a product of his or her culture as well. Cultural genograms are a beneficial tool in providing culturally competent care in nursing. It is essential to remember that there is not an individual culture that is considered to be correct or the standard, but that every culture has a unique view on practices in life. Being culturally sensitive is a critical element in providing culturally competent care.
The term culture is defined as “the thoughts, communications, actions, customs, beliefs, values, and institutions of racial, ethnic, religious, or social groups” (Potter & Perry, 2013). With the increase of culturally diverse populations in the United States, it is important for nurses to practice cultural competence. Cultural competence is the ability to acquire specific behaviors, skills, attitudes, and policies in a system that permits “effective work in a cross-cultural setting” (OMH, 2013). Being culturally competent is essential because nurses who acknowledges and respects a patient’s health beliefs and practices are more likely to have positive health outcomes (OMH, 2012). Every culture has certain views and attitudes concerning health. The Jewish (also referred to as Jews), in particular, have intriguing health practices and beliefs that health care providers need to be aware of.
Issues of culture are often controversial. LaBorde (2010) has noted that culture is always a factor in conflict. Ironically, conflict can provide nurses with an excellent opportunity for developing compassion that will lead nurses unto a place of meeting in which there is a deep respect for differences and equally intentional openness to the possibility of connection. Healthcare practitioners are confronted in a daily basis with the practical manifestation of these issues. In particular, nurses are more confronted by cultural issues than the other healthcare providers because nurses spend majority of their time with patients. However, some nurses are reluctant to confront and discuss the cultural issues because of lack of knowledge in dealing with patients of diverse cultures (Tjale & Villiers, 2004).
Culture care is grounded within one’s worldview, which is shape by social structure factors such as religion, economics, cultural values, environmental context, ethnohistory, and language (Alligood, 2014; Sitzman & Eichelberger, 2015). Moreover, culture care share similarities and differences related to health and well-being, how individual deal with disability and death, as well as, when to seek relief from illnesses or distress. As culture plays a vital role in health care seeking habits and decision making, it is imperative for nurses to fully understand cultural knowledge. With increase cultural knowledge, nurses are better able to implement care plans that are beneficial to the patient with respect to their beliefs, values, and cultural
Wells, M. I. (2000). Beyond cultural competence: A model for individual and institutional cultural development. Journal of Community Health Nursing, 17(4), 189-199.
Providing culturally competent care is a vital responsibility of a nurse’s role in healthcare. “Culturally competent care means conveying acceptance of the patient’s health beliefs while sharing information, encouraging self-efficiency, and strengthening the patients coping resources” (Giddens, 2013). Competence is achieved through and ongoing process of understanding another culture and learning to accept and respect the differences.
Cultural competence can be defined as using the ability of one’s awareness, attitude, knowledge and skill to effectively interact with a patient’s many cultural differences. Madeline Leininger, a pioneer on transcultural nursing describes it this way; “a formal area of study and practice focused on comparative human-care differences and similarities of the beliefs, values and patterned lifeways of cultures to provide culturally congruent, meaningful, and beneficial health care to people” (Barker, 2009, p. 498). The importance of cultural diversity in healthcare allows for the delivery of appropriate cultural autonomy. Showing respect for others will lead to trust between nurse and patient which in turn improves healing and health.
Transcultural nursing requires us to care for our patients by providing culturally sensitive care over a broad spectrum of patients. The purpose of this post is to describe cultural baggage, ethnocentrism, cultural imposition, prejudice, discrimination, and cultural congruence. I will also give an example of each term to help you understand the terminology related to nursing care. I will definite cultural self-assessment and explain why it is valuable for nurses to understand what their own self-assessment means. Finally, I will describe the five steps to delivering culturally congruent nursing care and how I have applied these concepts in my nursing practice.
As nurses entering the medical field understanding the culture of our patients is crucial to proper care. Each culture has their own set of beliefs and values that are shared among groups of people which influences personality, language, lifestyles, house hold, level modesty, social standings, foods, health treatment and identity. Culture affects how people view health and illness; dictating when, where and what type of medical treatment they will receive and who will be their care provider.
Miller, Leininger, Leuning, Pacquiao, Andrews, and Ludwig-Beyer, (2008) support that the skill of cultural competency in nursing is the ability to gather relevant cultural data on the presenting problem of the patient. This cultural assessment is defined as a "...
Leininger M. & McFarland M.R. (2002). Transcultural nursing: concepts, theories, research, and practice (3rd ed.). New York, New York: McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.
As a nurse strive to provide culturally sensitive care, they must recognize how their client's and their perceptions are similiar as well as different. Nurse enhance their ability to provide client-centered care by reflecting on how their beliefs and values impact the nurse-patient relationship. To provide appropriate patient care, the nurse must understand her/his culture and that of the nurse profession. Cultural biases can be particularly difficult to identify when the nurse and client are of a similar cultural backgroup. When we recognize and know a culture, we will know what is right for our patient, and thus may impose our own values on the client by assuming our values are their values. Recognizing differences a present an opportunity not only to know the other, but also to help gain a greater sense of self. In this paper, I will explain more about diversity and cultural competence in case study.
Madeleine Leininger is a nurse who realized that cultural care was an important concept in nursing. In the 1950s she found that behavioral issues in children stemmed from a cultural basis due to nursing having a lack of knowledge in a variety of cultural awareness (Buschur-Betancourt, 2015). The purpose of this paper is to identify the eight reasons Madeleine Leininger states transcultural nursing is necessary. I will describe the cultural diversity and how it relates to my field of nursing. I will also provide three ways that I have incorporated culturally sensitive care toward my patients.