Topic 3 DQ 1

Re:Topic 3 DQ 1
“Cultural competency is described as a set of congruent practice skills, behaviors, attitudes and policies that come embedded in a system, agency, or among consumer providers and professionals.*Cultural competency facilitates the ability to carry out tasks effectively in an environment that has cross cultural situations.’ Hence, cultural competence is the mastery of skills that provide appropriate awareness and sensitivity to individuals who are in cross cultural situations. Cultural competency is related to diversity and disparity. As Buchbinder and Shanks'” pointed out, diversity has been historically defined by broad categorical markers such as age, sexual orientation religion, and ethnicity, which involves many factors, including economic status and marginalization. Therefore, not only must the prolific numbers of ethnic groups in the United States be taken into account in anticipating care, but also factors that are relevant to a patient’s minority status (i.e., whether they are migrants, uninsured, poor, or refugees) which contribute to economic, social, welfare, and psychological despair” (Green& Reinckens, 2013).
If we want better outcomes for our patients it is extremely important to take into consideration the types of culture these patients possess. With that being said as I read this article it made such clear sense to me. Take for instance you have patient that speaks Spanish or another language for their language. Then to add on top of the mix the patient is unable to maintain a high paying job due to his language barrier and lack of funds for education. This them snow balls into the patient is unable to receive the proper health care because he cant afford insurance. This is something other cultures face all the time. However if we as nurses take the time to educate OURSELVES about the different cultures and the barriers they may have, as well as put ourself out in the community and help these patients with opportunities to receive health care with clinics and programs then we might have a strong chance to lessen the amount of poor outcomes that may develop in the end. These patients a every other patient should be treated with equality and respect as we would treat our own family.
References
Green, Z. D., & Reinckens, J. (2013). Cultural Competency in Health Care: What Can Nurses Do?. Maryland Nurse, 14(4), 16.