In what ways are you and your peers using these standards in your areas of nursing practice?

This week we are asked to consider the overlap between the Standards of Professional Nursing Practice and the CLAS categories and how this applies to our own area of nursing practice. After reviewing the CLAS standards, I saw that there are many parallels in the two lists of standards. A few similarities that stand out to me are: collection of relevant and accurate data which can be applied demographically, identification of barriers of health, prioritization of culturally relevant healthcare goals (American Nurses Association, 2015), and use of culturally appropriate teaching materials that are in line with the patient’s developmental level and preferential language (ThinkCulturalHealth.com, 2019). All of these have culture at the forefront because they may differ greatly depending on where a patient is from or depending on what cultural practices they may follow.

I live and practice nursing in the North San Diego County area. This is a culturally diverse area where we are frequently taking these things into consideration. My peers and I are expected to be culturally sensitive, without exception. We frequently have patients of all ages from other cultures, religions, backgrounds and belief systems. These elements may come into nursing practice regarding patient preferences. For example, patients may not wish to eat certain foods, may not wish to receive certain types of care, or may want to have nursing staff of a certain gender. We hold ourselves to high standards and focus on patient centered care for each patient. At our hospital we also aim to communicate regarding the patient’s background and preferences to oncoming staff at shift change, with hope of creating continuity in care and treatment planning.

Discuss one nursing action you might incorporate to improve cultural competence in your organization.

It is said that cultural competence in healthcare is essential, and that it comes through experience and self-reflection (Garneau & Pepin, 2015). I agree with this concept. I believe the first step of developing cultural competence is in reflecting on our own beliefs or values and determining our comfort level with ideas that are different than our own. As nurses, we connect with patients and use therapeutic communication to listen and learn about their preferences and values. Therapeutic communication combined with honest self-reflection can teach us not only about ourselves but about cultural competence as well. Through self-enrichment, reflection and by communicating with our culturally diverse patients we can improve cultural competence both personally as well as in our organizations. I truly believe that each patient deserves respect and understanding of their beliefs in their medical treatment.

References

American Nurses Association. (2015). Nursing: scope and standards of practice (3rd ed.). Silver Spring, MD: Author.

Garneau, A. B., & Pepin, J. (2015). A constructivist theoretical proposition of cultural competence development in nursing. Nurse education today, 35(11), 1062-1068. Retrieved from https://www-sciencedirect-com.chamberlainuniversity.idm.oclc.org/science/article/pii/S0260691715002476 (Links to an external site.)

ThinkCulturalHealth.com. (2019). National culturally and linguistically appropriate services standards. Department of Health and Human services. Retrieved from https://thinkculturalhealth.hhs.gov/clas/standards

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