Cultural Competency Assignment

Nurs 403 – Transition to BSN Practice  

Purpose of Assignment:

The purpose of this assignment is to increase the student’s knowledge and awareness of culturally competent nursing care. 

Student Approach to Assignment:

This assignment was a web based training program. This assignment reflects my personal interests because I live in a very culturally diverse area. In order to care for my patients as best as I can, I need to have cultural competency because no one patient is the same. From this assignment, I learned how to provide more culturally competent nursing care and I also learned how culturally incompetent I was prior to completing the program.

Reason for Inclusion of this Assignment in the Portfolio :

This project should be included in my portfolio because it taught me unlearn nursing practices that are not culturally competent which shows growth in my practice as a nurse. This assignment represents me as a student because I believe to be able to function in a group as well as at work, cultural competence is imperative for a positive environment. A positive environment fosters growth and allows for better relationships and better nursing care.

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  • Nursing Practice​

    • Demonstrates an awareness of complementary modalities and their usefulness in promoting health​

      • During this training we explore the use of different ways to communicate with our patients in the event that they are unable to talk or speak a different language. These modalities promote health because it allows the providers to provide the best care so that the patient can clearly tell us what they do and do not want as well as what providers are suggesting for their medical care.​

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  • Communication​

    • Demonstrates skills in using technology, informatics, and communication devices that support safe nursing practice​

      • In this assignment we explore the importance of being able to communicate effectively with all of our patients. When we have a patient that speaks a different language we utilize technology such as the SALLI which is a communication device that allows us to video and/or voice chat with an interpreter that speaks the same language as our patient in order to translate information between provider and patient. We are then required to provide written documentation as well as documentation on our charting system in that states we are using these communicative devices.​

• • Culture

    • Articulates an understanding of how human behavior is affected by culture, race, religion, gender, lifestyle, and age

      • During this web-based training we were taught that a person’s background has a large effect on how they behave. An example of cultural differences was one of how Hispanic families view the matriarch of the family. An example of race was given that minorities are more likely to live in poverty and have less access to proper healthcare. Religion can affect the care that a person allows, an example is how Jehovah’s witnesses may decline blood transfusion even during a life-threatening emergency. Gender, lifestyle, and age all play another large role in how people behave.

    • Considers the impact of research outcomes and, the effects of health and social policies, on persons from diverse backgrounds

      • This training emphasized how people from different backgrounds and cultures are effected by health and social policies. Research from the web program was conducted in order to teach how to be culturally competent in this aspect.

    • Demonstrates sensitivity to personal and cultural definitions of health, and how these beliefs influence an individual’s reactions to the illness experience and end of life

      • Completing this program and earning the culturally competent certificate shows that I am have learned and am able to provide culturally competent care. This is not limited to how an individual’s reaction to illness experience and end of life beliefs.