Organizational Cultural Safety Position Statement

This document provides a position statement on organizational cultural safety in healthcare. It discusses the importance of cultural safety, the relationship between health literacy and health communication, external influences on culturally safe practice, and barriers in implementing a position statement. The document also includes a summary of the Lismore Base Hospital, its services, and its policies and procedures.

ASSESSMENT TWO-
ORGANIZATIONAL
CULTURAL SAFETY
POSITION STATEMENT

Table of Contents
PART 1............................................................................................................................................2
Summary of organization............................................................................................................2
Position statement.......................................................................................................................2
PART 2............................................................................................................................................3
Importance of having culturally safe environment.....................................................................3
Relation between health literacy and health communication......................................................3
External influence contributing or detracting from culturally safe practice...............................3
Contribution in improving health outcomes...............................................................................4
Barrier in implementation of position statement.........................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5

PART 1
Summary of organization
The organization that is Lismore base hospital is a major public teaching hospital located
in the Northern New South Wales in city of Lismore. The hospital is acquainted with almost 260
beds and is primarily recognized for trauma centre and is also treated as rural teaching hospital
for many of the universities of Queensland and New South Wales (Lismore Base Hospital,
2020). The hospital provides for many of the variety of services like emergency trauma, upper
gastrointestinal and vascular surgeries, perioperative and many other type of services. In addition
to this the Lismore base hospital also provides for the interventions and diagnostic cardiology
with help of its cardiac catheter laboratory and aids for different types of coronary care unit and
also provides advance haematological and oncological support to patient for their fast recovery.
Position statement
Cultural safety- this is the most essential consideration to be taken care of by Lismore
base hospital as if the hospital will not be culturally safe then the patient will not be comfortable
within the hospital. There are many different types of patients coming to the hospital for getting
cured and if they will not get the appropriate facilities and treatment then this will have a great
impact over the health of the patient.
Health literacy- this is another major criterion to be undertaken by the hospital as if the
workers and care takers working within the hospital are not having proper knowledge then this
will have a great impact over the goodwill and working of the hospital. If the employees within
the healthcare setting is not able to read the healthcare information, then they will not be in
position of taking any decision relating to health of the patient.
Effective communication- the communication is the only key for the working and
effective running of the hospital. The communication is defined as the exchanging of the
information and facts and figures among the patient and the caretaker. Further there is also
requirement of effective communication among the staff of the hospital as if any single
information will not be shared or miscommunicated then this can risk the like of patient
(Fleming, Creedy and West, 2017).

For all these three things Lismore base hospital has made effective policies and procedures so
that there is clear and understandable information to each and every employee within the
hospital.
PART 2
Importance of having culturally safe environment
For the hospital it is very crucial to have culturally safe and secure environment as if the
environment within the hospital will not be safe then the patient will not be comfortable within
the hospital. Hence, when the hospital uses all the culturally safe practices in the hospital then
this builds trust of the patient for the hospital and this increases the goodwill of the hospital.
Relation between health literacy and health communication
Health communication is defined as the communicating each and every information of
the patient with the health caretaker (Fleming, Creedy and West, 2019). The major reason
underlying this fact is that if any of the information is not revealed or is miscommunicated then
this will have a great impact over the working and process of taking care of the patients. On the
flip side the health literacy is a concept which states that the health care person must have
complete and full knowledge relating to each and every concept relating to their work. The major
reason underlying this fact is that if they will not be having proper knowledge then this will not
be good for the patient and they will not be able to treat the patient in effective manner. Hence,
there needs to be an effective relation between both health literacy and health communication.
The major reason underlying this fact is that if person is not having proper health literacy then
they will not be able to communicate in effective manner. Hence, this will affect the services and
its quality of the hospital and will reduce the profitability.
External influence contributing or detracting from culturally safe practice
There are many different external factors which affects the culturally safe practice of the
hospital and its application. The major factor behind this is that the hospital exists in the external
environment and any change in the external factor has a crucial impact over the working of the
hospital. The major external factor is the history of the patient. This means that the if the patient
is not having the relevant culture as undertaken within the hospital then this will have a negative
impact over the culturally safe practice of hospital (Taylor and Guerin, 2019). The reason behind
this is that the Lismore base hospital is not using the practices relevant to the historical

background of the patient. In addition to this another factor is the medical records of the patient.
This affects the culturally safe practice of the hospital in the way that if the current practice of
the hospital is contradicting with the history of the patient then this will have a great impact over
the health of the patient (McCormack and Dewing 2019).
Contribution in improving health outcomes
All the above discussed things are very essential for the contribution in improving the
health outcomes of the Lismore base hospital. The major reason underlying this fact is that when
the hospital is having all the latest facilities and effective communication along with health
literacy and culturally safe practices within the hospital then this will improve the health
outcomes. The major reason underlying this fact is that when all these aspects are effectively
followed then this will have a good impact over the working of the hospital. In addition to this it
also increases the goodwill of the hospital as when the patient within the hospital are happy and
satisfied then this will add to the better working of the hospital. Further when the hospital is
using all the latest methods and techniques of curing the patients then this will create a better
working environment and safe and secure ambiance for the patient as well. Hence, this will result
in speedy recovery of the patient and thus, adding in the goodwill of the hospital (England,
2017).
Barrier in implementation of position statement
Though all these compliances assist the hospital in managing their performance but then
also there are some of the barriers which affects the implementation of statement relating to
health safety and security. The first and foremost barrier in the compliance with the position
statement in Lismore base hospital is the lack of knowledge. This creates a barrier as if the
people working within the hospital are not having proper knowledge then this will have a crucial
impact over the cultural safety, health literacy and communication. The major fact underlying
this is that when the people are not having proper knowledge then this will affect their working
capacity and way of dealing with the patients.
Along with this another major barrier in the implementation of the position statement is
the advancement taking place in the external environment. This is the major barrier as if the
hospital is not able to manage the external changes in proper and effective manner then this will
have a great impact over the working of the whole hospital (Lock, 2018). For instance, if in the
external environment there are latest technology coming and if the hospital is not adapting to all

these thing then this will create a barrier for the implementation of the position statement that is
cultural safety, effective communication and health literacy. The major reason underlying this
fact is that when the latest technology will not be used then it might not be possible for Lismore
base hospital to manage all its communication and safety practices up to the mark.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
England, L. (2017). RCGP position statement on mental health in primary care. Primary Care
Mental Health Steering Group, 2017 Sep.
Fleming, T., Creedy, D. K., & West, R. (2017). Impact of a continuing professional development
intervention on midwifery academics’ awareness of cultural safety. Women and
Birth. 30(3). 245-252.
Fleming, T., Creedy, D. K., & West, R. (2019). Evaluating awareness of Cultural Safety in the
Australian midwifery workforce: A snapshot. Women and Birth. 32(6). 549-557.
Lock, M.J., (2018). Australian Healthcare Governance and the Cultural Safety and Security of
Australia’s First Peoples: An Annual Critique. No. 1: Focussing on Knowledge
Governance. Committix Pty Ltd, Newcastle.
McCormack, B., & Dewing, J. (2019). International Community of Practice for Person-centred
Practice: position statement on person-centredness in health and social care. International
Practice Development Journal. 9(1).
Taylor, K., & Guerin, P. (2019). Health care and Indigenous Australians: cultural safety in
practice. Macmillan International Higher Education.
Online
Lismore Base Hospital. 2020. [Online]. Available through: <
https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/nswgovdirectory/lismore-base-hospital>