Nurses Developing Cultural Competence

The five components of a nurse’s ability for cultural competence includes the following:

1. The nurse’s knowledge  which is the process of learning of the different cultural backgrounds of her patients.

2. The nurse’s awareness   or looking at self biases and prejudices.

3. The nurse’s desire  or motivation and willingness to learn, respect and accept individual cultures.

4. The nurse’s skill as a framework for assessing cultural ethnic differences.

5. The nurse’s encounter process of interacting with diverse backgrounds thus developing cultural competence.

Skill includes –

Environmental control: how much do we belive we have control over our environment or is it just luck? Traditional western medicine vs. folk medicine

Biological variations: Scientifically any genetic factors in particular ethnic or racial groups that affects their health or high risk in  diseases.

Social organization: Patrilineal or male dominated, Matrilineal or female dominated, Bilineal where male & female are dominate

Communication: assertive vs. more passive, nonverbal verbal, tone of voice, eye contact.

Space: eye contact, touching how close a distance between participants

Time: future-oriented, present oriented or past oriented

 

laura’s thoughts generated by the article of: Flowers, Deborah. “Culturally competent Nursing Care,” Critical Care Nurse, August 2004, Pages 48-52.