Cultural Safety: Reflection on Personal Values, Beliefs, and Behaviors in Healthcare Practice

In this report we will discuss about cultural safety and below are the summaries point:- Personal values, beliefs, and behaviors influence the quality of healthcare and the nurse-patient relationship. Consistency in treatment and communication supports culturally safe practice. Integrity, prioritizing health, and continuous education contribute to creating a culturally safe healthcare environment.

Running head: Cultural Safety 1
Cultural Safety
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Me
Values
Consistency
Health
Education
Integrity
Beliefs
Traditional medicine
Faith
Culture
Mentors
Behaviours
Compassion
Attentive
Communication skills
Punctual

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Introduction
Personal values, beliefs and behaviours have a significant effect on the
quality of healthcare services offered by healthcare providers because
both the patient and nurses have different values, beliefs and behaviours.
Studies have indicated that values, beliefs and behaviours have a strong
impact on one’s judgement regarding every aspect in life including
careers (Friedman, 2012). Healthcare providers can easily be biased while
providing healthcare services to patients with contrasting culture, thus
necessitating the need for thorough reflection on the personal values,
beliefs, and behaviours on the side of the healthcare providers (Friedman,
2012). The provision of biased healthcare services weakens the nurse-
patient relationship which is critical for effective service. The patients’ lose
confidence in the nurses and as a result, they do not open up during
diagnosis causing the nurses to offer treatment without adequate
information (Smye, Josewski, & Kendall, 2010). A proper reflection on the
source of bias or cultural differences is significant in ensuring that there is
cultural safety in my clinical practice. This paper is a reflection on my
personal values, beliefs and behaviours and how they can foster or
undermine from being a culturally safe professional in a multicultural
healthcare environment
Values
Consistency
Consistency in the treatment of all patients regardless of their cultural
differences or my cultural inclination in one of my personal values.
Consistency in character is at all times is important. This ensures that
there is no bias and thus fostering a culturally safe professional
environment (Hall et al., 2015). My communication skills such as body
language or the use of physical touch (Kourkouta, & Papathanasiou, 2014)
across all patients would show consistency and support culturally safe
practice.

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Integrity
Integrity includes honesty, responsibility and accountability (Berman,
Snyder, & Frandsen, 2016). Integrity contributes to a culturally safe work
environment because it ensures that one works within the confines of the
scope of practice. My communication skills such as showing compassion
by treating all patients with respect and dignity support culturally safe
practice.
Health
Physical and emotional health is a significant personal value because it
determines one's wellbeing. My goal is health first before any cultural
differences. This promotes a culturally safe workplace. Building a personal
relationship is one of my communication skills that would ensure that
patients develop trust and confidence in me thus supporting culturally
safe practices (Douglas et al., 2014).
Education
Advancing in education is a critical personal value in nursing practice
which is characteristics of advancement in medicine and technology.
Thus, gaining current knowledge would ensure that my nursing practice
fosters a culturally safe environment. Therapeutic communication skill
such as active listening as a result of additional knowledge will foster a
culturally safe environment touch (Kourkouta, & Papathanasiou, 2014).
Beliefs
Traditional medicine
Traditional medicine is based on cultural practice and experience but it’s
not evidence-based. My belief in traditional medicine is likely to
undermine a culturally safe professional care environment because it’s
not based on research and is likely to differ significantly from other
cultures. Communication skills of cultural awareness will be significant in
fostering the culturally safe practice

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Faith
My personal value of faith is critical to my well-being and is a source of
strength and hope when am sick Jackson. However, due to the differences
in faith, it’s likely to distract a culturally safe environment. Cultural
awareness is a communication skill that will ensure that there are
tolerance and acceptance to all faiths (Kourkouta, & Papathanasiou,
2014).
Culture
Culture is one's way of life and determines the perspective from which
everything is perceived. It is likely to cause a culturally unsafe nursing
practice because people have different cultural beliefs. Exercising cultural
awareness as a communication skill will promote culturally safe practice.
Mentors
Everybody has a mentor who influences and encourages them to pursue a
given objective in life. I believe in mentoring and inspiring trust in patients
thus developing a healthy relationship, effective quality care and
culturally safe care environment. Educating patients on the causes of
diseases and preventive measures is a communication skill that fosters a
culturally safe practice (Kourkouta, & Papathanasiou, 2014).
Behaviours
Compassion
Compassion is an emotional response to suffering and a genuine desire to
assist. This behaviour contributes to a culturally safe practice because it
aims at relieving suffering despite cultural differences. The use of body
languages such as posture and facial expression are vital for expressing
compassion and promoting cultural safety (Dossey & Keegan, 2013).
Attentive
Attentive behaviour care provides intensive and personalized treatment
which inspires trust and confidence among patients and thus promoting
the culturally safe nursing practice. Active listening and the use of
therapeutic touch are critical communication skills that promote attentive

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behaviour in a multicultural environment (Kourkouta, & Papathanasiou,
2014)
Communication skills
Communication skills are critical in clinical practice because nurses
interact with different people and diverse cultures. Different gestures and
symbols can be interpreted differently hence, the need for thorough
communication skills such as cultural awareness, active listening etc. to
ensure that culturally safe practice is fostered and maintained (Kourkouta,
& Papathanasiou, 2014)
Punctual
Time is of the essence in nursing practice because a minute or a micro-
second may mean the loss of life or preservation of life. I am very
punctual when it comes to attending to my patients and for meetings with
my colleagues. Studies have also indicated that nurses are overworked
and may sometimes go for night and day shifts depending on the demand
(Van Bogaert et al., 2014). Therefore, this behaviour is likely to promote a
culturally safe care environment because healthcare services will be
provided on a timely basis. Verbal communication skills such as clarity in
speech and tone of speech will support a culturally safe practice and
ensure that there is no hurry despite the objective of observing time
Conclusion
My Personal cultural beliefs, values and behaviours determine my cultural
identity just like it is for patients. This means that they affect the quality
of healthcare that I provide to patients. This necessitates the need for
cultural awareness in order to provide quality healthcare and without bias
in a multicultural environment. Therefore, my personal beliefs, values and
behaviours are critical for culturally safe care in a multicultural health care
environment.

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References
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Friedman, V. J. (2012). Challenges on the path to cultural safety in
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Hall, W. J., Chapman, M. V., Lee, K. M., Merino, Y. M., Thomas, T. W.,
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Van Bogaert, P., Timmermans, O., Weeks, S. M., van Heusden, D.,
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