Culture and Healthcare
Nurses handle patients from different cultural backgrounds. Inability to relate to the cultural beliefs and practices of patients from distinct backgrounds could hamper care delivery. Language and cultural issues are key threats to patient’s safety across various hospitals (Kaihlanen, Hietapakka and Heponiemi, 2019). Addressing these issues is a pivotal approach as institutions focus on accelerating healthcare outcomes for all cultural groups. Cultural competence is an element that emerges from these issues where it calls for nurses to undergo education and training on cross-cultural care management. They should understand the impact of social and cultural factors on health beliefs and patient behavioral patterns. When nurses consider the play of these factors on different levels of healthcare delivery, they are better positioned to deliver quality healthcare. For example, cultural competence education allows nurses to incorporate effective communication processes. They are also better positioned to understand how negative attitudes can affect the care of culturally diverse patients.
Overall, the article shows that cultural attitudes and perceptions threaten healthcare delivery. When nurses fail to understand their patient’s cultural background, they are unable to offer excellent services. There is a dire need to expose nurses to cultural competence education and training to familiarize themselves with different cultural backgrounds. This enables them to handle patients effectively and administer care services that align with their needs, interests, and expectations. Institutional administrators should be offered throughout the professional’s career. This is meant to ensure that the care and attention services provided are tailored to individual and organizational needs. Cultural competence healthcare training seeks to eliminate negative attitudes towards cultures as a way of enhancing care delivery. Notably, it enables nursing professionals to learn about patients’ culture, thus boosting their efforts when handling culturally diverse patient populations.
Reference
Kaihlanen, A. M., Hietapakka, L., & Heponiemi, T. (2019). Increasing Cultural Awareness: Qualitative study of nurses’ perceptions about cultural competence training. BMC nursing, 18(1), 1-9.
