Cultural competence in nursing: foundation or fallacy?

Mapping intersectional sociodemographic inequalities in measurement and prevalence of depressive symptoms: a intersectional multilevel analysis of individual heterogeneity and discriminatory accuracy using data from a population-based nationwide survey in Germany

OBJECTIVES

Understanding how social categories like gender, migration background, lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender (LGBT) status, education, and their intersections affect health outcomes is crucial. Challenges include avoiding stereotypes and fairly assessing health outcomes. This paper aims to demonstrate how to analyze these aspects.

STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING

The study used data from N = 19,994 respondents from the German Socio-Economic Panel 2021 data collection. Variations between and within intersectional social categories regarding depressive symptoms and self-reported depression diagnosis were analyzed. We employed intersectional Multilevel Analysis of Individual Heterogeneity and Discriminatory Accuracy to assess the impact of gender, lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender status, migration, education, and their interconnectedness. A Configuration-Frequency Analysis assessed typicality of intersections. Differential Item Functioning analysis was conducted to check for biases in questionnaire items.

RESULTS

Intersectional multilevel analysis of individual heterogeneity and discriminatory accuracy analysis revealed significant interactions between these categories for depressive symptoms and depression diagnosis. The Configuration-Frequency Analysis showed that certain combinations of social categories occurred less frequently compared to their expected distribution. The Differential Item Functioning analysis showed no significant bias in a depression short scale across social categories.

CONCLUSION

Results reveal interconnectedness between the social categories, affecting depressive symptoms and depression probabilities. More privileged groups had significant protective effects, while those with less societal privileges showed significant hazardous effects. Statistical significance was found in some interactions between categories. The variance within categories outweighs that between them, cautioning against individual-level conclusions.

Women Acute Myocardial Infarction-Identifying and Understanding the Gender Gap (WAMy-GAP): A Study Protocol

Barriers to accessing care and misinterpretations of ischemic heart disease symptoms due to lack of awareness contribute to women's delay in seeking care. Women may delay seeking treatment for up to 3 h or even up to 5 days. They often perceive themselves to be at low risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and prioritize family responsibilities or household chores. The causes of this delay are multifactorial and influence the decision-making process, particularly in the pre-hospital phase. The objective of this study protocol is to evaluate prodromal symptoms and identify risk behaviors in women with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). This is a protocol for a multicenter study that will be conducted using the mixed-method methodology using the McSweeney Acute and Prodromal Myocardial Infarction Symptom Survey (MAPMISS) to evaluate symptoms and semi-structured interviews to investigate behaviors. This study protocol is intended to fill an important knowledge gap on premonitory and acute symptoms of AMI in women in Italy, as well as to understand the causes and mechanisms underlying delays in accessing healthcare services during an acute event such as AMI. The investigation of this issue will facilitate the removal of gender-related inequalities in the diagnosis and treatment of acute myocardial infarction while also fostering dialogue on the barriers to behavior change.

Cultural Humility and Diversity in Nursing Academia: Understanding History to Create a "Brave Space" Culture in the Classroom

Nursing academicians are positioned at a critical juncture to mold the future generations of nursing with the skills of cultural humility, starting with fostering humility in the classroom. The dynamic culture of nursing education, with consideration of the diversity of nursing students and faculty, commands attention before the exploration of what is taught about the culture of patients. Classroom cultural humility must become the "brave space" of nursing academia. This is possible with strategic approaches and revisiting the history of the culture of nursing education before trying to shape its future.

Home Health Nurses’ Journey Toward Culture-Sensitive/Patient-Centered Skills: A Grounded Theory Study

Introduction. Home health patients, who are members of minority and vulnerable groups, suffer disparate outcomes. Patient-centered care (PCC) and culturally-competent care (CCC) aim to facilitate high-quality, equitable care. How home health nurses incorporate PCC and CCC principles into their assessment and care-planning practices has not been -investigated. This study answers the question, “ What is the process by which home health nurses develop their culture-sensitive/patient-centered assessment and care planning skills?” Methods. Home health nurses (n= 20) were recruited into this grounded theory study from agencies around the United States via flyers, websites, and contacts. We conducted in-depth recorded interviews using a semi-structured interview guide to ask questions about nurses’ assessment and care-planning practices, their understanding of CCC and PCC principles, and facilitators/barriers to CCC and PCC practice. Results. Participants primarily gained their CCC and PCC assessment and care-planning skills through a “seat of your pants,” trial-and-error process, with little educational or agency assistance. They combined caring, diverse patient experiences, and critical, creative self-reflection on their experiences to gradually learn helpful, though not optimal, CCC and PCC strategies. However, they reported numerous barriers that discouraged or distressed them in their quest to deliver culturally-competent and patient-centered care. Only a few nurses demonstrated the resilience to overcome these challenges creatively and happily. Conclusion. If we accept that patient-centered care and culturally competent care are key elements of high-quality, equitable care, this grounded theory may help home healthcare clinicians, administrators, educators, and policy-makers identify impact points for enhancing CS/PC practices.

From Cultural Competence to Cultural Respect: A Critical Review of Six Models

BACKGROUND

Despite the development of cultural competence models in response to the increase in cultural diversity in the United States, health disparities based on ethnicity and cross-cultural mismatches in health care practices still exist.

METHOD

This article critically reviews six noteworthy conceptual models of cultural competence and enlists multilayered definitions of culture from cultural anthropology, critical multicultural education, and critical literary theory, as well as critical discourse analytical tools to deconstruct these frameworks.

RESULTS

Although these models assist providers to become more culturally sensitive, they can essentialize and oversimplify patients' cultural experience, as well as mask the dynamism and complexities of their communities and power relations.

CONCLUSION

Competence implies that practitioners can master diverse cultural experiences. Building on some of the promising practices of these six models and the practices of cultural humility and relational ethics, processes and practices are proposed for practitioners to reconstruct their ongoing cross-cultural work in nursing. [J Nurs Educ. 2020;59(6):311-318.].

Recovery capital among migrants and ethnic minorities: A qualitative systematic review of first-person perspectives

This systematic review of 15 qualitative studies explores recovery capital among migrants and ethnic minorities (MEM). The results of the framework analysis indicate that addressing barriers to recovery and (often minority-related) root causes of problem substance use is vital to recovery among MEM, as well as building recovery capital on personal, social and community level. The review unpacks the importance of "cultural" and "spiritual" elements of recovery capital both inside and outside treatment, the interconnectedness of the different dimensions of recovery capital, as well as their intertwinement with root causes of substance use and barriers to recovery. The results point out the importance of offering culturally and trauma-sensitive relational support and building recovery capital through recovery-oriented systems of care. Moreover, this study highlights the need for further research concerning recovery in MEM populations.

An Emancipatory Approach to Cultural Competency: The Application of Critical Race, Postcolonial, and Intersectionality Theories

Nurses teach, work, and conduct research in an increasingly hostile sociopolitical climate where health inequities persist among marginalized communities. Current approaches to cultural competency do not adequately equip nurses to address these complex factors and risk perpetuating stereotypes and discrimination. A theory-driven emancipatory approach to cultural competency will instead lead to lasting change and uphold the core nursing value of commitment to social justice. This article explicates key tenets of critical race, postcolonial feminist, and intersectionality theories and then applies them, using an emancipatory approach to cultural competency that can reshape nursing education, research, and practice.

Nurses' perceptions of health beliefs and impact on teaching and practice: a Q-sort study

AIM

To understand Chinese nurses' perceptions of health beliefs, their content, origin and the influence of sociocultural factors, as a basis of their evidence-based practice. This study contributes to a larger study to establish the health beliefs of Japanese, Australian, Chinese, South Korean and Thai nurses.

BACKGROUND

Registered nurses teach patients and students about maintaining or attaining health are subject to the same range of influences and their health beliefs may be antithetical to current health evidence.

METHODS

Q-method design using q-sort and interview was used to explore the perspectives on a range of health beliefs of 60 nurses in four cities in China.

FINDINGS

Three factors arose from the perceptions of the participants about health and accounted for 50.2% of the total variance: (1) social impact, (2) 'the importance of evidence', and (3) beliefs rooted in culture.

DISCUSSION

Influence on nurses' health beliefs was explored in terms of the internalized and frequently unconscious beliefs, values and norms tying them to their communities, reflecting the need for nurses to be aware of their health beliefs and behaviours.

CONCLUSIONS

Education for nurses in practice needs to acknowledge that individual practitioners' beliefs strongly influence health teaching for patients and families. In order to implement evidenced-based practice and teach in line with current evidence nurses need to critically examine and reflect on the impact of culture, society and the media on their own health beliefs.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING POLICY AND HEALTH POLICY

Education policy needs to consider that culture and societal pressures affect nurses' health beliefs and practice. Critical thinking, reflective and evidence-based practice need to be emphasized in clinical training and nurse education. China also needs to develop policies to allow nurses to be able to assess the reliability of health information on the Internet and to make quality health research more available.

Taiwanese medical students' narratives of intercultural professionalism dilemmas: exploring tensions between Western medicine and Taiwanese culture

In an era of globalization, cultural competence is necessary for the provision of quality healthcare. Although this topic has been well explored in non-Western cultures within Western contexts, the authors explore how Taiwanese medical students trained in Western medicine address intercultural professionalism dilemmas related to tensions between Western medicine and Taiwanese culture. A narrative interview method was employed with 64 Taiwanese medical students to collect narratives of professionalism dilemmas. Noting the prominence of culture in students' narratives, we explored this theme further using secondary analysis, identifying tensions between Western medicine and Taiwanese culture and categorizing students' intercultural professionalism dilemmas according to Friedman and Berthoin Antal's 'intercultural competence' framework: involving combinations of advocacy (i.e., championing one's own culture) and inquiry (i.e., exploring one's own and others' cultures). One or more intercultural dilemmas were identified in nearly half of students' professionalism dilemma narratives. Qualitative themes included: family relations, local policy, end-of-life care, traditional medicine, gender relations and Taiwanese language. Of the 62 narratives with sufficient detail for further analysis, the majority demonstrated the 'suboptimal' low advocacy/low inquiry approach (i.e., withdrawal or inaction), while very few demonstrated the 'ideal' high advocacy/high inquiry approach (i.e., generating mutual understanding, so 'intercultural competence'). Though nearly half of students' professionalism narratives concerned intercultural dilemmas, most narratives represented disengagement from intercultural dilemmas, highlighting a possible need for more attention on intercultural competence training in Taiwan. The advocacy/inquiry framework may help educators to address similar disconnects between Western medicine and non-Western cultures in other contexts.

Cultural Competence in Nursing: New Meanings

Shortages of nurses challenge the provision of health care in developed countries including those in the European Union (EU), but there has been no upward trend in recruitment of nurses from EU countries with a surplus. A remedy is to facilitate migration of nurses around Europe. However, the importance of the concept of cultural competence has been overlooked within EU health care systems. Migrant nurses from EU countries employed in the United Kingdom indicate that they have experienced problems arising from a variety of issues related to cultural diversity. Countries such as the United Kingdom could benefit from introducing enculturation courses for migrant nurses.

A Transdisciplinary, Transcultural Model for Health Care

For the past 28 years, members of the Transcultural Nursing Society have been pioneers in generating knowledge about transcultural health issues, and this important body of knowledge will continue to increase and influence nursing research and practice worldwide. Yet at the same time, worldwide changes, demographic disparities, and new discoveries necessitate transitioning what has been a nursing discipline approach to that of a more inclusive transdisciplinary alliance. This alliance will build on pioneering strengths but also link with other disciplines such as anthropology, genetics, epidemiology, law, economics, and health policy to build cutting-edge research and theory for transcultural health care. A transdisciplinary, transcultural model for health care is presented for discussion, debate, and input. Suggestions are made for how such a model might be implemented through a changed curriculum using on-line education including consultation, teaching, and research.

A meta-analysis of educational interventions designed to enhance cultural competence in professional nurses and nursing students

OBJECTIVES

Increasing professional nurses' and nursing students cultural competence has been identified as one way to decrease the disparity of care for vulnerable and minority groups, but effectiveness of training programs to increase competence remains equivocal. The purpose of this project is to synthesize educational interventions designed to increase cultural competence in professional nurses and nursing students.

DESIGN

A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to synthesize all existing studies on increasing cultural competence.

DATA SOURCES

A comprehensive search and screen procedures was conducted to locate all cultural competence interventions implemented with professional nurses and nursing students.

REVIEW METHODS

Two independent researchers screened and coded the included studies. Effect sizes were calculated for each study and a random-effects meta-analysis was conducted.

RESULTS

A total of 25 studies were included in the review. Two independent syntheses were conducted given the disparate nature of the effect size metrics. For the synthesis of treatment-control designed studies, the results revealed a non-statistically significant increase in cultural competence (g¯=.38, 95% CI: -.05, .79, p=.08). Moderator analyses indicated significant variation as a function of the measurements, participant types, and funding source. The pretest-posttest effect size synthesis revealed a significant increase in overall cultural competence (g¯=.45, 95% CI: .24, .66, p<.01). Moderator analyses indicated, however, that the effect sizes varied as functions of the measurement, funding source, and publication type.

CONCLUSIONS

Interventions to increase cultural competence have shown varied effectiveness. Greater research is required to improve these interventions and promote cultural competence.

Patients' cultural beliefs in patient-provider communication with African American women and Latinas diagnosed with breast cancer

African American women and Latinas often experience suboptimal breast cancer care. This article describes providers' self-rated skills in communication practices when working with African American women and Latinas diagnosed with breast cancer. Current literature reveals how providers are lacking in the ability to communicate with these patients and often fail to incorporate cultural beliefs into breast cancer care and treatment. This poor communication and failure to acknowledge cultural beliefs can be correlated with poor patient outcomes. In a study of providers' perceptions of how they address the cultural beliefs of African American women and Latinas diagnosed with breast cancer, interviews with physicians, inpatient nurses, cancer clinic nurses, mammography technicians, and ultrasound technicians showed that they used the same approach for all patients, regardless of race, ethnicity, or culture but felt they practiced culturally sensitive care. Increased and improved cultural competence education is recommended for providers at all levels as a first step toward increasing culturally competent communications.

The lived experience of teaching about race in cultural nursing education

PURPOSE

Some nursing scholars assert that race and racism require a more explicit focus in cultural nursing education if the profession is to positively impact health care disparities. This study explored what White BSN cultural educators think, believe, and teach about race, racism, and antiracism.

METHOD

Phenomenological methods were used to analyze interview data from 10 White BSN faculty members who taught cultural content.

FINDINGS

Four themes were identified: living and learning in White spaces, a personal journey toward antiracism, values transformed through personal relationship, and race at the margins.

DISCUSSION/CONCLUSIONS

Whiteness obscured the participants' understanding and teaching of race; White nursing faculty were not well prepared to teach about race and racism; learning about these topics occurs best over time and through personal relationships.

IMPLICATIONS

Faculty development regarding race and racism is needed to facilitate student, curricular, and institutional change.

Migrant-friendly hospitals: a paediatric perspective--improving hospital care for migrant children

BACKGROUND

The European Union (EU) Migrant-Friendly Hospital (MFH) Initiative, introduced in 2002, promotes the adoption of care approaches adapted to meet the service needs of migrants. However, for paediatric hospitals, no specific recommendations have been offered for MFH care for children. Using the Swiss MFH project as a case study, this paper aims to identify hospital-based care needs of paediatric migrants (PMs) and good service approaches.

METHODS

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with principal project leaders of five paediatric hospitals participating in the Swiss MFH project. A review of the international literature on non-clinical hospital service needs and service responses of paediatric MFHs was conducted.

RESULTS

Paediatric care can be complex, usually involving both the patient and the patient's family. Key challenges include differing levels of acculturation between parents and children; language barriers; cultural differences between patient and provider; and time constraints. Current service and infrastructural responses include interpretation services for PMs and parents, translated information material, and special adaptations to ensure privacy, e.g., during breastfeeding. Clear standards for paediatric migrant-friendly hospitals (P-MFH) are lacking.

CONCLUSIONS

International research on hospital care for migrant children is scarce. The needs of paediatric migrants and their families may differ from guidance for adults. Paediatric migrant needs should be systematically identified and used to inform paediatric hospital care approaches. Hospital processes from admission to discharge should be revised to ensure implementation of migrant-sensitive approaches suitable for children. Staff should receive adequate support, such as training, easily available interpreters and sufficient consultation time, to be able to provide migrant-friendly paediatric services. The involvement of migrant groups may be helpful. Improving the quality of care for PMs at both policy and service levels is an investment in the future that will benefit native and migrant families.

Indigenous cultural training for health workers in Australia

PURPOSE

Culturally inappropriate health services contribute to persistent health inequalities. This article reviews approaches to indigenous cultural training for health workers and assesses how effectively they have been translated into training programmes within Australia.

DATA SOURCES

CINAHL PLUS, MEDLINE, Wiley InterScience, ATSIHealth and ProQuest.

STUDY SELECTION

The review focuses on the conceptual and empirical literature on indigenous cultural training for health workers within selected settler-colonial countries, together with published evaluations of such training programmes in Australia. Data extraction Information on conceptual models underpinning training was extracted descriptively. Details of authors, year, area of investigation, participant group, evaluation method and relevant findings were extracted from published evaluations.

RESULTS OF DATA SYNTHESIS

Six models relevant to cultural training were located and organized into a conceptual schema ('cultural competence, transcultural care, cultural safety, cultural awareness, cultural security and cultural respect'). Indigenous cultural training in Australia is most commonly based on a 'cultural awareness' model. Nine published evaluations of Australian indigenous cultural training programmes for health workers were located. Of the three studies that assessed change at multiple points in time, two found positive changes. However, the only study to include a control group found no effect.

CONCLUSION

This review shows that the evidence for the effectiveness of indigenous cultural training programmes in Australia is poor. Critiques of cultural training from indigenous and non-indigenous scholars suggest that a 'cultural safety' model may offer the most potential to improve the effectiveness of health services for indigenous Australians.

Spiritual intelligence of nurses in two Chinese social systems: a cross-sectional comparison study

BACKGROUND

The spirituality of healthcare providers and their clients is becoming a crucial issue in a world increasingly preoccupied with material issues. In light of such, how do nurses enhance their spiritual intelligence against such materialist pressures? After a 60-year separation of Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and the rancor between their two governments, what are the similarities and the differences in nurse spirituality profiles between these two different societies? With increasing contact between the two, this issue should be examined and explored, as it has the potential to become an essential unspoken element underpinning holistic care quality.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to compare spiritual intelligence between nurses in two different Chinese societies.

METHODS

A cross-sectional descriptive and inferential study was conducted at five medical centers in China and Taiwan. A total of 524 registered hospital nurses were recruited as participants. We used R. N. Wolman's (2001) self-reported PsychoMatrix Spirituality Inventory to measure participant levels of spiritual intelligence. The PsychoMatrix Spirituality Inventory incorporated seven factors, including divinity, mindfulness, extrasensory perception, community, intellectuality, trauma, and childhood spirituality.

RESULTS

Results showed that social systems did have an impact on nurses' spiritual intelligence. Childhood spirituality and religious beliefs and activities greatly affected and effectively predicted nurses' spiritual intelligence. Nurses on either side of the Taiwan Strait all reported a need to deal with their daily lives pragmatically, objectively, and rationally and relied on empirical evidence in work settings.

CONCLUSIONS

As social and economic contacts increase across the Taiwan Strait, it is imperative that nurses adopt cultural awareness and sensitivity as they provide holistic care to clients. This study opens doors to dialogue about and a better understanding of nurses' spiritual intelligence in Taiwan and China.

Diversity within nursing: effects on nurse-nurse interaction, job satisfaction, and turnover

Little research has focused on understanding interpersonal dynamics within a diverse nursing staff. This study investigated the impact of diversity on the interaction level among staff nurses, job satisfaction, nursing turnover, and the multicultural sensitivity of a diverse nursing staff in metropolitan Washington, DC. Data were collected from 194 registered nurses with 2 standardized instruments--the Workforce Diversity Questionnaire-II by Larkey and the Multicultural Sensitivity Scale Questionnaire by Jibaja-Rusth and others. One-way analyses of variance and correlation coefficient were used for data analysis. The findings showed that nurses who were satisfied with their current job were more likely to value differences and build trusting relationships. Nurses with higher educational levels appeared to be more open and involved with other cultural groups and were more likely to build more trusting relationships with other cultural groups. Multicultural sensitivity was related to cultural group inclusion/exclusion, valuing differences, and adaptation; however, multicultural sensitivity and trust were not related. Delivery of cost-effective, quality nursing care in the 21st century demands that the positive potential of cultural diversity in the nursing workforce be more fully understood through research such as this. More research on diversity is needed during these challenging times for the nursing profession.

Examining the conflation of multiculturalism, sexism, and religious fundamentalism through Taylor and Bakhtin: expanding post-colonial feminist epistemology

In this post-9/11 era marked by religious and ethnic conflicts and the rise of cultural intolerance, ambiguities arising from the conflation of multiculturalism, sexism, and religious fundamentalism jeopardize the delivery of culturally safe nursing care to non-Western populations. This new social reality requires nurses to develop a heightened awareness of health issues pertaining to racism and ethnocentrism to provide culturally safe care to non-Western immigrants or refugees. Through the lens of post-colonial feminism, this paper explores the challenge of providing culturally safe nursing care in the context of the post-9/11 in Canadian healthcare settings. A critical appraisal of the literature demonstrates that post-colonial feminism, despite some limitations, remains a valuable theoretical perspective to apply in cultural nursing research and develop culturally safe nursing practice. Post-colonial feminism offers the analytical lens to understand how health, social and cultural context, race and gender intersect to impact on non-Western populations' health. However, an uncritical application of post-colonial feminism may not serve racialized men's and women's interests because of its essentialist risk. Post-colonial feminism must expand its epistemological assumptions to integrate Taylor's concept of identity and recognition and Bakhtin's concepts of dialogism and unfinalizability to explore non-Western populations' health issues and the context of nursing practice. This would strengthen the theoretical adequacy of post-colonial feminist approaches in unveiling the process of racialization that arises from the conflation of multiculturalism, sexism, and religious fundamentalism in Western healthcare settings.

Cultural competence in the era of evidence-based practice

Cultural competence has become an important concern for contemporary health care delivery, with ethical and legal implications. Numerous educational approaches have been developed to orient clinicians, and standards and position statements promoting cultural competence have been published by both the American Medical Association and the American Nurses Association. Although a number of health care regulatory agencies have developed standards or recommendations, clinical application to patient care has been challenging. These challenges include the abstract nature of the concept, essentializing culture to race or ethnicity, and the attempts to associate culture with health disparities. To make cultural competence relevant to clinical practice, we linked a cultural competency continuum that identifies the levels of cultural competency (cultural destructiveness, cultural incapacity, cultural blindness, cultural precompetence, and cultural proficiency) to well-established values in health care. This situates cultural competence and proficiency in alignment with patient-centered care. A model integrating the cultural competency continuum with the components of evidence-based care (i.e., best research practice, clinical expertise, and patient's values and circumstances) is presented.

Perceptions of medical interactions between healthcare providers and American Indian older adults

Cultural competence models assume that culture affects medical encounters, yet little research uses objective measures to examine how this may be true. Do providers and racial/ethnic minority patients interpret the same interactions similarly or differently? How might patterns of provider-patient concordance and discordance vary for patients with different cultural characteristics? We collected survey data from 115 medical visits with American Indian older adults at a clinic operated by the Cherokee Nation (in Northeastern Oklahoma, USA), asking providers and patients to evaluate nine affective and instrumental interactions. Examining data from the full sample, we found that provider and patient ratings were significantly discordant for all interactions (Wilcoxon signed-rank test p Collapse

Key Words

• cherokee nation
• doctor-patient communication
• cultural competence
• race
• american indians
• cultural identity, usa, older people

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MESH Headings

• Adult
• Aged
• Aged, 80 and over
• Attitude of Health Personnel
• Cultural Characteristics
• Female
• Health Personnel/psychology
• Humans
• Indians, North American/psychology
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Office Visits
• Patient Satisfaction
• Perception
• Professional-Patient Relations
• United States

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Grants

• K01 AG022434 NIA NIH HHS
• K01 AG022434-03 NIA NIH HHS
• 1K01AG022434-01A2 NIA NIH HHS

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Affiliation(s)

Eva Marie Garroutte Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA UNITED STATES [Proxy]
Natalia Sarkisian Boston College,
Jack Goldberg University of Washington,
Dedra Buchwald University of Washington,
Janette Beals University of Colorado at Denver Health Sciences Center,

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Health disparities and health-seeking behavior among Latino men: a review of the literature

Many studies examining Latino health-seeking behavior have focused on comparing Latinos with other ethnic groups, primarily with Whites and African Americans. However, without the benefit of intragroup or intracultural comparisons, such studies fail to identify the subtle variation in health-seeking strategies and the range of needs within the Latino ethnic group, and thus are compromised in their capacity to guide and improve practice and policy. This article reviews the literature regarding health-seeking behavior and Latino men. Important factors identified include gender, occupation, and responsiveness of the health care system along with characteristics of the individual.

Culturally congruent care: putting the puzzle together

This article presents the 3-D puzzle model of culturally congruent care, defines the levels and constructs employed by this model, presents some assumptions, and lays out some basic propositions as a foundation for further work. There are many extant frameworks and theories of culture and cultural competence in nursing and health care; the model presented here draws heavily from prior work and is an attempt to present a synthesis of concepts and processes in a new way. The ideas presented here build particularly on pioneering work in transcultural nursing by Leininger. Leininger's work specifically focuses on the use of qualitative methods to understand the ways in which culture influences nursing care from an emic, or insider, perspective. The 3-D puzzle model extends Leininger's work to include concrete articulations of constructs relevant to design and implementation of intervention strategies for teaching and measuring competency among nurses and other providers.

Reflecting on intercultural dialogue in nursing

Nurses must provide culturally competent care in increasingly multicultural health care settings. This article is a reflection on a research study about intercultural dialogue as a means to increasing knowledge and awareness of other cultures. Hermeneutic methodology provides us a way to explore intercultural dialogue as it requires a commitment to a process of emerging understanding and self-transformation through dialogue. Concepts of intercultural dialogue, such as respect, power, willingness to stay in the process, responsibility, vulnerability and the expanding of one's horizons and self-discovery are included in this reflection.

Advancement of health disparities research: a conceptual approach

Although nurse researchers have contributed in significant ways to the body of literature on health disparities, a broad framework and approach to health disparities is needed if we are to understand the complex interplay of variables that contribute to health disparities. This article reports on the work of the Center for the Advancement of Health Disparities Research and its development of a conceptual framework and method for approaching health disparities research and on a sample of nursing research consistent with this framework.

Does Service-Learning Increase Cultural Competency, Critical Thinking, and Civic Engagement?

To prepare for community engagement and partnerships with diverse communities, nursing students must understand the principles of service-learning, as well as the essential skills needed to work within a democracy. The purposes of these two pilot tests were to develop a 15-hour service-learning intervention; refine the 15-hour service-learning intervention; and explore whether participation in the intervention made a difference in the critical thinking, cultural competence, and civic engagement of nursing student participants. Although the sample was small (n = 14), results of paired t tests found that, after the intervention, critical thinking scores measured by the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory were significantly lower (t = -2.23, p = .04), particularly on the self-confidence subscale (t = 2.29, p = .039); cultural competence scores measured by the Inventory for Assessing the Process of Cultural Competence Among Healthcare Professionals were significantly lower (t = 4.83, p = .000); and civic engagement scores significantly increased (t = -3.54, p = .004).

Culture diversity/a mobile workforce command creative leadership, new partnerships, and innovative approaches to integration

Today's healthcare environment requires that nursing leaders meet the needs of a growing multicultural workforce and patient population. Cultural factors may be overlooked as healthcare delivery becomes increasingly dominated by technological, economic, and social changes. Through creative leadership, the chief nurse executive (CNE) can encourage staff to pay closer attention to cultural factors that will impact on patient, staff, and hospital outcomes. The CNE can begin by enhancing his/her own multicultural competency, building these competencies in his/her staff, and then empowering staff to respect and accommodate cultural differences. An understanding to transcultural nursing theory can enhance the development and maintenance of a multicultural perspective. The use of Madeline Leininger's Culture Care modalities can assist staff in making culturally competent decisions and in implementing actions. This article will provide an overview of one community hospital's experiences in integrating a multicultural perspective to better meet the needs of specific patient populations.

Formulation of a Plan of Care for Culturally Diverse Patients. Elaboration d'un plan de soin pour des patients de cultures differentes. . Elaboracao de um plano de cuidados para pacientes culturalmente diversos. Formulacion de un plan de cuidados para pacientes de diversas culturas

PURPOSE

To formulate a plan of care for a culturally diverse population and develop a resource for the healthcare team in providing culturally competent care.

DATA SOURCES

Books, journal articles.

DATA SYNTHESIS

Healthcare workers are challenged to provide appropriate care for an increasingly diverse population. A cluster of nursing diagnoses were used to develop a plan of care addressing the unique challenges of caring for a diverse population served by a community hospital.

CONCLUSION

A care plan was devised and inserted into the nursing diagnosis-based nursing documentation computer system for easy access when needed.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

A care plan for a diverse population can promote respectful and excellent care for every patient.