The Importance Of Cultural Awareness In Health Care

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To provide culturally competent health care, self-awareness is an important indicator of success. This means being able to recognize similarities and differences within and between different cultural groups. Part of being culturally competent for healthcare providers is understanding one 's own views on culture, as well as the views of the client. Understanding culturally diverse populations; their values, traditions, history, and institutions is not simply political correctness. It is imperative to eliminating health care disparities and providing high quality client care. After completing the cultural competence self-test, my results indicate that I should improve my cultural competence within health care delivery. Advanced …show more content…

- Effective communication, for client’s who are not fluent in English, the use of a trained interpreter helps bridge any communication gaps.
- Required staff training to increase cultural awareness, knowledge, and skills amongst the entire treatment team.
- No tolerance policy for staff engaging in behaviors that are culturally insensitive, racially biased, and prejudice.
These are just a few interventions, that can promote healthcare providers to provide culturally competent care. “Accepting that cultural differences exist reflects an open mind, which in turn leads to exploring the client’s own strengths and adaptive capabilities.” (de Chesnay, 2016)

References

Chesnay, M. D., & Anderson, B. A. (2016). Caring for the Vulnerable Perspectives in Nursing Theory, Practice, and Research (4th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC, an Ascend Learning Company.

McFarland, MM & Eipperle, MK (2007). Cultural care theory: A proposed practice theory guide for nurse practitioners in primary care settings. Contemporary Nursing, 28 …show more content…

Likewise, culturally competent care is essential because clients are unlikely to fully disclose aspects of their lives if they perceive that their clinician is biased, prejudiced, or uneducated in their religion or spirituality (Williams-Orlando, 2012). In theory, since the Berg assessment looks at both culture and spirituality simultaneously, it would be an ideal assessment tool. However, in reality the tool would require numerous modifications when you consider that many of the clients we are treating have some type of literacy

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