Culturally Competent Nursing Care
Culturally Competent Nursing Care 2.
Often, I have heard the United States referred to as the “melting pot” due to its
wide variation of ethnicity. In July of 2007 the United States Census Bureau estimated
the Caucasian / non Hispanic population at 65.7%, Hispanic or Latino at 14.5%, Black /
African American at 13.5%, Asian at 4.5%, American Indian / Alaskan Native at 1.5%,
and Hawaiian / Pacific Islander at 0.3% (Hood, 2010, p. 274). The word culture as
defined by Sir Edward Taylor …show more content…
She sent me the hospital’s policies and procedure
guidelines, describing St. Joseph’s Hospital nursing philosophy: We believe (the)
patient(s) and their significant other(s) health needs exist on a continuum extending from
prevention to rehabilitation and maintenance of well being. The patient’s right to
determination is actualized by empowerment with knowledge and skill for self-care and
self-advocacy. Nurses are patient advocates respecting the patient’s health, culture,
spiritual, and psychosocial beliefs, as well as that of the support person(s). In addition, an
interdisciplinary approach that includes the patient and the support persons achieves
optimal outcomes for the patient. While I did fine this policy helpful, I think expanding
the emphasis on cultural competence would be helpful. Examples of this would be to
become a culturally competent nurse an important skill to learn is to show genuine
concern and respect for those upon whom you are caring for. Non-verbal mannerisms and
acting in a hurried manner can be misconstrued as being uncaring. Prior to performing …show more content…
I did a search within the policies and procedures directory
and nothing populated. I believe that development of a guideline for delivering culturally
sensitive and competent care is necessary, especially within a diverse population such as
Tampa, Florida. I work at a large hospital in Tampa. In the area surrounding the hospital,
we have a large Hispanic / Latino population. For our patients that do not speak English,
we have the translational language line telephone that assists staff in communication with
our patients. We have preprinted educational forms / videos and consent forms in
Spanish. An area where I see a needed change is in delivery of discharge instructions.
Whenever I am discharging a Spanish speaking patient, I use a translator to verbalize the
instructions. The problem is the discharge instructions are only printed in English, and
this can lead to miscommunication. As someone who has travelled to other countries, I
can empathize with those who do not speak the same language.
The hospital occasionally does provide continuing education opportunities
discussing cultural diversity, but these are optional and not mandated. I asked a