Culture

Culture

Blandine Villiere

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Culture

Discussion One

Cultural competence and diversity are used to portray the same meaning but in healthcare and nursing, different concepts are portrayed. Diversity is considered as a sub constituent of cultural competency. Diversity is the composition of ethnic and racial identities and belongingness, moreover, this also includes age, gender, cognitive, and physical abilities, sexual orientations, and religious perspectives. The existence of cultural competence is not possible without diversity. It is a mandatory act for healthcare professionals to be competent culturally so that they would be able to provide equal healthcare facilities to patients (Campinha-Bacote, 2002). Lack of healthcare facilities can lead healthcare institutions towards lower standards of quality services. In the provided video of competence for healthcare providers, it is depicted that it is important to understand different cultures to deliver health services to the patients.

Response Two

Africans were the first people with the Spanish and Portuguese to enter the new world. In the Southern parts of America and the Caribbean area, there were almost 27,500 Africans living and this population included both slaves and free people during the year of 1600. Some of the Africans were brought to the United States for slavery due to the lack of slaves and plenty of lands. 1,300,000 Africans, by the end of the 17th century, entered the New World (Doorenbos et al., 2005). Africans who entered to the New World are more oriented towards family relations rather than separated families, whereas few of them are identified as African Americans. It is a complex structure of identities about African Americans because sometimes, they are not recognized as who they are. This may be because of their cultural and racial backgrounds to which they belong. However, it is important for health professionals to create an understanding of various cultures. Better understanding regarding African-American history will enable them to treat their patients equally and provide quality health services. One of the best approaches is to ask the patients directly about their identity.

Response Three

When it comes to Hispanics, ethnicity and racial categories are confused; this may be because of a lack of understanding, regarding others’ racial identities and backgrounds. Ethnicities are more related to the traditions and racial categories include the physical features and gender orientations. Hispanics can be categorized as an ethnic group because they do not have any particular physical characteristics. Whereas this is not categorized as a racial group; therefore, this is an ethnic group for sure. This group is considered to be the largest minority group, while the Africans are considered to be the second-largest minority group.

Response Four

Native American: A Native American is a person who has an origin with the people of North America and has a cultural identification through the sources of tribal associations and communities.

Asian: An Asian is the person who has the originality of the people belonging to the East, Southeast Asia, and the Indian Subcontinent or the Pacific Islands.

White: White is the person who has origins with the people of Europe, North Africa, and Middle East.

In healthcare and nursing, cultural competency is considered to be a very important factor, that has to be understood by health professionals. This is important for the demonstration of greater understanding to provide healthcare services to the patients (Capell et al., 2008). This allows acting as a leader and role model for other health care providers.

Response Five

The initial step that is required is, to create opportunities starting from the state level by generating healthcare funds. These funds can be utilized on community levels to help the patients in their localities to avoid and cultural discrepancies that include language barriers. Another step can be the allocation of interpreters in the healthcare services, to communicate in a better way.

Response six

It is important to understand the cultural affiliations of all people coming to avail of healthcare services. As future Healthcare Administers, there are likely chances that cultural backgrounds may make an impact on decision-making. This may include biases regarding payments, biased decisions over health facilities, and this may also include privacy issues that may be sometimes disrespected.

References

Campinha-Bacote, J. (2002). The process of cultural competence in the delivery of healthcare services: A model of care. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 13(3), 181–184.

Capell, J., Dean, E., & Veenstra, G. (2008). The relationship between cultural competence and ethnocentrism of health care professionals. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 19(2), 121–125.

Doorenbos, A. Z., Schim, S. M., Benkert, R., & Borse, N. N. (2005). Psychometric evaluation of the cultural competence assessment instrument among healthcare providers. Nursing Research, 54(5), 324–331.