Cultural Safety in Health Care

This paper reflects on individual beliefs, values, and behaviors and their influence on cultural safety in health care. It discusses the importance of efficiency, honesty, open-mindedness, and commitment in creating a culturally safe environment. It also explores the impact of beliefs related to religion, diet, and culture on patient care. Additionally, it highlights the significance of caring, organization, time management, and perfection in promoting cultural safety in health care.

Running Head: CULTURAL SAFETY IN HEALTH CARE
Cultural Safety in Health Care
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CULTURAL SAFETY IN HEALTH CARE
Figure 1Mind map
Cultural Safety in Health Care
A reflection on individual beliefs, values and behaviours have a major influence on
health care practice and it also affects the quality of care accorded to patients. It is crucial to

CULTURAL SAFETY IN HEALTH CARE
recognize that patients’ individual values, beliefs and behaviours differ from mine. As such, it
is important to comprehend the influence of the varying values and beliefs in health care
practice. This paper seeks to display a reflection on personal values, beliefs and behaviours
and their influence on cultural safety in health care.
Values
Efficiency is a value that I uphold. Professionally, efficiency is a requirement in
promoting better patient outcomes. According to (Nock, 2017), efficiency and high
productivity is normally a secondary goal for nurses and they achieve that by applying
various methods. Therefore, in order to achieve nursing productivity, patient rooms should be
standardized (Nock, 2017). That calls for adequate supplies in items that are regularly used
such gloves and gauze and they should be placed in a specific location in every room. That
will promote same procedures in all patients thus leading to a culturally safe environment for
patients. Therefore, since I value efficiency. I have to work on identifying ways of promoting
efficiency in the health care industry so that patient outcomes may be enhanced.
Honesty is a value that I cherish because it not only affect my interaction with other
individuals but it also influences my clinical practice. As pointed out by (Allinson, 2016),
honesty plays a key role in building and maintaining trust with patients. According to
(Allinson, 2016), majority of patients will open up to health care professionals whom they
trust. Therefore, in order to build trust, clinical professionals need to act with integrity and
honesty for the purpose of upholding the reputation of the profession. Additionally, honesty
is important because it promotes a culturally safe health care environment where patients
open up to nurses and other medical professionals thus leading to better patient outcomes.
Open-mindedness in the health care industry refers to the manner in which
professionals in this field are willing to tolerate each other’s varying approaches, mistakes

CULTURAL SAFETY IN HEALTH CARE
and cultural differences (transformnursing.eu, 2019). Personally, I value open-mindedness
although I am not fully an open-minded individual because there are certain views that I hold
strongly regarding specific topics. However, in order to foster better patient outcomes,
clinical professionals are supposed to be open-minded. This way, it will be possible to
incorporate different views regarding the manner in which services and other operational
activities should be conducted in the health care facilities. Clinical professionals will learn to
admit to mistakes committed thus creating culturally safe environment for patients.
Personally, I need to work on my open-mindedness so that I can actively take part in creating
a safe health care environment.
Commitment is another value that enhanced my growth as both a person and career
wise. As shared by (Price-Dowd, 2018), commitment in nursing involves doing the job
differently because nurses are expected to be committed in making things better in that field.
As such, nurses that are committed usually look for ways of promoting improvements on a
daily basis. Therefore, commitment leads to a culturally safe clinical environment because
nurses and other medical practitioners take good care of patients and other individuals around
them. Additionally, commitment involves self-care, in that in case of any mistakes,
individuals do not get hard on themselves but rather look for appropriate ways of handling
the problem. In order to create a culturally safe environment, medical practitioners should
reflect on their commitment levels so that improvements can be made in the health care
sector.
Beliefs
As a Christian, there are certain Christian beliefs that I uphold. As such, there is a
likelihood that my Christian beliefs will differ from the spiritual beliefs held by my patients
and workmates. As pointed out by (Arritt & Timothy, 2014), the society we live in is

CULTURAL SAFETY IN HEALTH CARE
characterized with different cultures, religion and ethnicities. Therefore, in order to foster
better patient outcomes, clinical practitioners should diversify their knowledge so that they
can promote individualized care to patients.
Diet matters are usually influenced by age, health status, and religion among other
factors. Personally, I am a vegetarian, a choice that I made as a way of leading a healthy
lifestyle. According to (Britt, 2015), nutrition is crucial in the care of individuals with eating
disorders, those with food allergies among other patients. As such, nurses and other health
professionals should acquire adequate knowledge regarding nutritional care so that they
enhance patient outcomes.
Individuals usually have varying cultures based on their working environment,
geographical area among other factors. In my case, I subscribe to culturalism because I
strongly believe in my culture and I respect those of other individuals. Therefore, as a way of
creating a culturally safe environment for patients, medical professionals should always
acquaint themselves with the cultures of their patients so that the needs of those patients are
met adequately.
Equality calls for treating individuals fairly and with respect without focusing on their
age, financial status, religion and ethnicity (rcni.com, 2016). Therefore, medical practitioners
should exercise equality when providing service to their patients. This will go a long way in
creating a culturally safe health care environment.

CULTURAL SAFETY IN HEALTH CARE
Behaviours
Caring is a behaviour that promotes a culturally safe care for patients. As pointed out
by (Vance, 2003), nurses and other clinical practitioners exhibit caring behaviours by actively
listening to the needs of their patients, comforting them and offering honest opinions
regarding various treatments. Caring is one of the behaviours that I apply in my nursing
career and it makes my work worthwhile.
Being organized always enables me to prioritize my daily activities adequately.
According to (Dunham, 2018), the process of learning the required organizational skills in
nursing is not always easy. However, it is important to learn organizational skills especially
in nursing because they aid in fostering efficiency that lead to better patient outcomes.
As highlighted by (Nelson, 2015), time management involves critical thinking and
prioritization of time and efforts. As such, nurses should prioritize their time and efforts so
that they accord their patients the care that they deserve. In my case, time management is a
skill that I have mastered and it always aids me in accomplishing my daily tasks.
Perfection is considered as the act of performing beyond individual potential
(Peperone, 2016). Therefore, individuals are encouraged to always work under perfection
because it creates room for growth and development of resilience. Creation of a safe care
environment requires nurses to wok under perfection.
Conclusion
The beliefs, values and behaviours of individuals differ greatly. As such, health care
practitioners should always respect the values and beliefs of their patients for the purpose of
creating a culturally safe care environment.

CULTURAL SAFETY IN HEALTH CARE
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