Strategies that Promote Culturally Sensitive Health Care

Strategies that Promote Culturally Sensitive Health Care
Introduction
The nursing profession comprises of various roles and responsibilities. The nurse is the only
health professional who works closely with the patient and caring for people from diverse
cultures and communities. According to the standards of the nursing profession, the nurse has
to treat and care for the patients regardless of culture, race, community and nationality.
Future of Nursing
According to the Institute of Medicine of United States (2011) the future of nursing ensures
safety, quality health care, person-centered, evidence-based with better outcomes.
Firearms in the United States
In countries like the United States, Firearm ownership is common. The firearm is considered
to be the major cause of suicide in the country. When implementing the strategies to prevent
the suicide caused by firearms, the gun regulation authorities apply the strategies among the
people from the rural community. According to Marino et al. (2016), limiting access to a
firearm has to be implemented to the vulnerable group and people who are at risk of suicide.
The author states the affected cultural groups need to be engaged in the discussion on limiting
the firearm access.
Recommendations for the cultural competency
Non-verbal communication

Communication is an essential aspect of the health care profession. The nurse has to
communicate with the patient in all the stages of hospitalization. More than a verbal
communication non-verbal communication plays a major part in maintaining cultural safety.
Each culture possesses a typical nonverbal code that includes facial expression, eye contact,
posture, touch, tone and modulation (Lorié et al. 2017). The nurse needs to be aware of the
non-verbal communication codes of people from different cultures. Especially, the nurse has
to ensure cultural safety for the indigenous people of the country.
Person-centered and culturally sensitive nursing care
Current standards of the nursing emphasis on person-centered care to ensure safety and
quality health care for the patients. According to Tucker (2015) Patient-Centered Culturally
Sensitive Health Care is an effective way to reach out to the indigenous people of the country
and people from diverse cultures. The author had implemented the strategy and had a better
outcome. Evaluation of the strategy proves that the attitudes and perceptions of the people
from different cultures had significantly modified and the outcome was optimal.
Implementation of strategies
Implementation of the proposed strategies ensures cultural sensitivity, cultural competency,
and interprofessional collaboration in health care. The nurse needs to update the knowledge
about the cultural differences, practices, sensitive factors of each cultural group and common
non-verbal codes of the people to implement in the nursing practice. The standard of the
nursing practice emphasis on person-centered care which include cultural safety. The nurse
has to remove cultural and language barriers to be culturally competent. Effective
communication among the health care professionals is the tool to develop interprefessional
collaboration in health care. The Nursing Council of the United States has to include cultural

safety in the nursing syllabus to prepare the new nursing graduates to provide holistic care for
the nation.
Conclusion
Cultural sensitivity, cultural competency, and interprofessional collaboration are essential
factors for the nursing profession. The nurse needs to develop the knowledge and skill and
implement cultural safety in nursing care to ensure cultural safety for the community.

References
Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Initiative on
the Future of Nursing, at the Institute of Medicine. The Future of Nursing: Leading
Change, Advancing Health. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2011.
Summary. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK209872/
Lorié, Á., Reinero, D. A., Phillips, M., Zhang, L., & Riess, H. (2017). Culture and nonverbal
expressions of empathy in clinical settings: A systematic review. Patient education
and counseling, 100(3), 411-424
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0738399116304463
Marino, E., Wolsko, C., Keys, S. G., & Pennavaria, L. (2016). A culture gap in the United
States: implications for policy on limiting access to firearms for suicidal
persons. Journal of public health policy, 37(1), 110-121
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27638246
Tucker, C. M., Arthur, T. M., Roncoroni, J., Wall, W., & Sanchez, J. (2015). Patient-
centered, culturally sensitive health care. American Journal of Lifestyle
Medicine, 9(1), 63-77
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1559827613498065