Cultural Competence

Emerging standards of care

Rikeah Curtis

NUR531/Influencing the future of nursing and health care

May 30, 2011

Jane Jacks

Emerging standards of care

The United States is becoming a more rapidly and ethnically diverse nation, the health care system and health care providers need to respond to the patients’ individual perspective, values, morals, and behaviors about health and well-being. When health care providers fail to understand and manage social and cultural differences, health consequences for minority groups arise.

Cultural competence has emerged as part of a strategic plan to decrease disparity in relation to health care quality. This paper will explain the definition of cultural competence and identify the benefits of cultural competence within the health organization. This paper will also identify the vulnerable populations that are served and the issues the population faces in the health care system. As many cultural groups arise within the United States, making health care professionals acquire new knowledge and competencies to meet patient needs is on the rise.

According to Parker (2010-2011):

“Cultural competence is a set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come together in a system, agency, or among professionals that enables effective work in cross-cultural situations” (p.99).

In order for the nurse to be culturally competent he or she needs to understand his or her own views in regards to the patient, avoiding stereotyping and misapplying the information with scientific nursing knowledge. When an individual is culturally aware, you are able to view the patient holistically and improve the quality of care.

Cultural competence is when the health care provider listens to the patient (symptoms or health care wishes), this then allows the provider to find out and learn about the patient’s beliefs of health and illness. In order to provide culturally appropriate care, the healthcare...