Nowadays, nurses are working with more varied patient groups. As a result, individuals encounter multiple languages, cultural, and health literacy hindrances. The cultural complexity of the population presents possibilities and difficulties for healthcare practitioners, healthcare institutions, and policymakers to establish and offer culturally competent services. The capacity of physicians and organizations to successfully provide health care assistance that satisfies patients’ interpersonal, cultural, and linguistic requirements is characterized as cultural competency. A culturally competent health care system assists in promoting health efficiency and quality of life and can lead to the eradication of racial and ethnic health inequalities. In turn, culturally competent care is determined by the nursing metaparadigm, in which four significant themes are person, environment, health, and nursing (Black, 2017). These are the most critical topics in nursing studies and practice. Thus, culturally competent care is impacted by the needs of persons, the quality of the nursing environment, the influence of cultural attitudes on health, and the appropriateness of nursing practices for particular individuals.
The first component of the nursing metaparadigm is a person. According to Black (2017), the term person refers to each individual female, male, and child, which are viewed as systems with people’s needs. Persons have biological and cognitive, social, cultural, and religious components that form the entire individual. An essential notion for understanding cultural competency is that each individual is distinct from all others who have come before and will come after them. This individuality is defined physiologically, culturally, and subjectively (Black, 2017). As Stubbe (2020) highlights, intercultural competence entails entering a relationship to respect the other person’s ideas, customs, and values. This suggestion means that cultural competence in health care should consider all persons’ varied backgrounds and beliefs. Hence, the person’s needs define what cultural competence must regard as a vital component of care.
The environment is the second main idea fundamental to professional nursing practice. All situations, behaviors, and circumstances that surround and impact people, groups, and communities are called the environment (Black, 2017). Nurses should know the effects of the environment on patients, which are determined by cultural systems. The environment includes, for example, the economic position of a country, which influences the affordability of care. In turn, the lack of accessibility of care leads to a scarcity of resources, which might limit nurses in providing linguistic and spiritual services that pertain to cultural competency. Furthermore, the third important notion necessary to professional nursing practice is health. Every person’s health condition varies due to many factors, including cultural ones. As such, some people might be more self-efficient in care than others. Hence, cultural competency is impacted by this concept in that it should incorporate knowledge about the perception of health in different groups. Finally, nursing combines principles from the individual, the environment, and health to produce meaningful wholeness (Black, 2017). Cultural competency depends on each nurse’s knowledge regarding their beliefs’ impact on care and potential biases.
To conclude, the fundamental concepts of nursing theory heavily influence culturally competent care. The notion of a person determines the consideration of each individual’s beliefs and background, which are caused by their environment. The environment also affects the conditions in which health services are provided. Moreover, the patient’s health might depend on their culture, which should be known to a competent nurse. At the same time, nursing must be delivered without the cultural bias of the professionals.
References List
Black, B. P. (2017). Professional nursing e-book: Concepts & challenges (8th ed.). Elsevier.
Stubbe, D. E. (2020). Practicing Cultural Competence and Cultural Humility in the Care of Diverse Patients. Focus (Am Psychiatr Publ), 18(1), 49–51.