Culturally Competent Nursing Research Paper

Culturally Competent Nursing Care 1.

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
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
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