Hello,
I agree that understanding specific geographical, social, political, and cultural features of the community they are working in is indeed an important aspect of nurse’s job. In the context of constant health challenges, every healthcare worker must guarantee the population a quality medical assistance, as well as an empathic approach. Thus, in order to employ a proper care, nurses, indeed, must maintain immersive knowledge about different geopolitical and phenomenological communities which the multinational society of the U.S. consists of. Nurses have the unique opportunity to witness patients and their families at their most vulnerable moments. Therefore, it is imperative that they understand and respect their sociocultural background in order to deliver high quality, compassionate care. Kaihlanen et al. (2019) explicitly state that “a lack of cultural understanding increases negative attitudes towards cross-cultural care and also affects healthcare professionals’ perceived preparedness to take care of culturally diverse patients” (p. 2). I think that the need for this competence currently stands rather acute in the health care system.
When social, cultural, and geopolitical differences between patient and health care workers are not incorporated into practice, it can lead to patient dissatisfaction, non-compliance with recommendations and health consequences. Community plays a large role in shaping health values, beliefs and behavior. With the aim of providing nurses with the knowledge and skills to understand geopolitical and phenomenological problems in the clinical environment, I believe that educational efforts should be made to develop this nursing competence. The proper healthcare includes a deep understanding of different social insights from a wide variety of national backgrounds combined with immersive knowledge of the most important traditions and particular features of various communities. This, ultimately, allows the healthcare workers improve and adapt their treatment plans according to their communities’ needs and values.
Reference
Kaihlanen, A.-M., Hietapakka, L., & Heponiemi, T. (2019). Increasing cultural awareness: Qualitative study of nurses’ perceptions about cultural competence training. BMC Nursing, 18(1).