Culturally Safe In A Multicultural Health Environment Essay

I am currently working as an Enrolled Nurse providing nursing care to my patients. On a day-to-day basis, I get to meet patients from various walks of life and cultural background. In this profession, being culturally safe in the provision of nursing care in the multicultural health environment should be of importance to all health professionals. As De Souza (2008) said that cultural safety focuses on the importance of acknowledging oneself as a culture as well as a power bearer.
According to the Oxford Living Dictionaries, a person’s cultural value is defined as the “principles or standards of behaviour; one's judgement of what is important in life” (“Value”, 2017). In other words, value is what a person regards as important, of worth, and held to deserve. For the purpose of this assignment, I have identified four cultural values, beliefs and behaviour to be expounded on how they contribute or detract from being culturally safe in a multicultural health environment.
Firstly, I highly value work that is done to perfection (i.e. perfectionism). Perfectionism at the
Respect is defined as “an act of giving particular attention” or “high or special regard” to a person (“Respect”, 2017). I strive to practice respect in my workplace, respecting the values and beliefs of my clients and colleagues, and expecting myself to be treated the same. I believe that respect is earned and neither gained through monetary terms nor social status. According to the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (2008), respecting people who are under their care is the act of acknowledging the person’s participation and control of their own health care. As we work and live in a multicultural and diverse nation, I see respect as a contribution to making the health environment a culturally safe place as Williams (1999) states that a culturally safe place is “about shared respect, shared meaning, shared knowledge and experience of learning