Nurses, healthcare providers, and nursing students alike are all on the same page when it comes to one thing: cultural competence. What does this mean? Cultural competency means understanding that other cultures exist and their traditions may be very different from your own. It also means recognizing how these differences may affect interactions with patients of certain cultures.
The first step in being culturally competent is to learn about other cultures and their practices. This blog post will cover some basic information about cultural competence for nurses so you can be equipped to offer quality healthcare.
Why Should Nurses Be Culturally Competent?
Most importantly, cultural competence is the key to providing quality healthcare. When nurses are culturally competent, they’re able to provide care that respects and accommodates patients’ cultures and beliefs while also respecting their own. This means being aware of how you approach a patient as well as your communication style in order not to offend them or make them uncomfortable with what’s happening around them as they get treatment at the hospital.
It can also mean recognizing cultural differences when determining appropriate treatments for certain diseases or illnesses. This prevents incorrect diagnosis due to cultural differences.
Why Is Cultural Competence an In-Demand Skill in Healthcare Today?
There are many reasons why cultural competence is an increasingly important skill for nurses in today’s healthcare system.
Cultural competency increases the likelihood of a patient understanding what they need to do and feeling safe while receiving care because they understand when nothing happens or something bad might happen.
A lack of cultural knowledge can lead to complications during procedures that require anaesthesia due to language barriers. Lack of training on culture impacts how providers talk with patients about their illness. For instance, if you don’t have some sense of where your patient comes from culturally, it may be hard to know how certain phrases will come across as scary or optimistic. This could affect whether or not someone would want treatment at all!
How do I become trained on cultural competency?
You might already know some basic information about other cultures if you’ve taken any classes in college related to anthropology.
Additionally, take classes to get a higher-level understanding of cultural competency. The Network Nurse offers a complete cultural competence course that is relevant to today’s dynamic environment.
You can also do research online about different cultures so that you’re aware of what they might expect from the healthcare system in their country or region when travelling abroad.
Become Culturally Competent Today!
The ability to be culturally competent is the most important skill a nurse can have. If you haven’t taken our course yet, we want to encourage you to register for our course on how cultural competence impacts patient care. With so many different cultures and beliefs in the world today, it’s vitally important that nurses should understand how culture influences health outcomes and nursing practice. Join us for an intensive course about what cultural competency means, why it matters when caring for patients of diverse backgrounds, and how they might integrate these skills into their everyday work lives at home or clinical settings. We hope you’ll join us!
