The notion of cultural competence in nursing refers to providing care to patients considering their cultural features and peculiarities. It is necessary to be aware of the values, beliefs, and worldviews of culturally diverse staff members and patients because it is a way to improve the quality of care and atmosphere in a team (Kaihlanen et al., 2019). In other words, culturally competent nurses can better understand the needs and expectations of their patients and adapt their care to them.
Cultural sensitivity could be defined as being aware of the existing cultural differences between diverse people and accepting them. In the modern globalized world, where people can easily move from one country to another, nurses have to deal with patients of various cultures (Unver et al., 2019). Therefore, as a nurse leader or manager, I should pay attention to the education of nurses on the issue of communication with patients from other cultures.
One of the ways to incorporate cultural diversity into a practice setting is to employ staff members regardless of their culture, race, or country of origin. In other words, it is necessary to cease discrimination based on culture. Secondly, it is also essential to provide care that corresponds with the cultural and linguistic requirements. To do this, a manager should collect data on the cultures and languages of patients to understand which cultures nurses should focus on more.
My strong side is that I accept the differences between people and treat diverse patients and colleagues equally. For example, I do not think that a white patient is better or worse than a Black or Asian patient by default. However, I have realized that I still should learn more about different cultures and their traditions and attitudes to health and healthcare. For instance, I do not know much about the values and worldviews of the Indians or Arabs. This way, while developing the nurse leader role, I should improve my knowledge of other cultures.
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.
Unver, V., Yasemin, U. S. L. U., Kocatepe, V., & Kuguoglu, S. (2019). Evaluation of cultural sensitivity in healthcare service among nursing students. European Journal of Educational Research, 8(1), 257-265.