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Reflection on Cultural Awareness

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

Course

Instructor

Date
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Reflection on Cultural Awareness

Diversity is a critical aspect of the nursing field because it provides healthcare

professionals with opportunities to improve health outcomes among patients. In my current

clinical practice, diversity entails aspects such as gender, race, age, education background, and

veteran status. I have learned that the ability to communicate with a wide range of clients can

improve patient outcome and wellbeing, while improving the long-term health benefits of

communities. An understanding of patients’ demographic aspects, for example, improves

communication and consequently, makes the clients comfortable. One of my responsibilities as a

nursing profession is to obtain information from clients in order to formulate suitable

intervention measures. As a culturally competent profession, I am able to choose the right

communication to obtain useful information that enhances my decision-making. Research studies

have shown that culturally-competent professionals are more successful in encouraging patients

to volunteer information on their health background compared to their counterparts lacking in

cultural competency (Purnell, 2018). Culturally-competent nurses are able to connect with their

clients at a personal level, thus creating a rapport that fosters communication.

However, developing cultural awareness and communication has not been easy,

especially for inexperienced nursing professionals. During my first years as a nursing profession,

it took me significant time to fully understand patient information across a wide range of

domains such as culture, environment, religious views, and customs. Such efforts take time, and

the outcomes may depend on factors such as resources and hospital culture (Eche & Aronowitz,

2017). Nonetheless, a successful healthcare profession provides nurses with an opportunity to

have a positive effect on a patient’s health and enhance the connection between patients and

caregivers. As a healthcare professional, I am aware of my responsibility of maximizing my

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potential by learning more about patients’ cultures and background. In doing so, I would be

practicing cultural competency, awareness and sensitivity. These critical values determine

patients’ health outcomes.

From experience, I have learned that miscommunication can adversely affect my

effectiveness as a nursing profession. I experienced cultural miscommunication during my first

year as a nurse when handling a patient whose health was rapidly declining. The patient was an

82-year-old female of Asian descent. I approached the patient in a friendly manner, but did not

consider the power differential between patients and healthcare professions. The patient felt

inhibited by my friendly and seemingly unrestrained approach. She possibly felt that

communication between healthcare professionals needs to be structured (Jennings, Bond, & Hill,

2018). On my part, I was eager to make the patient comfortable, but I ended up ruining the whole

interaction in establishing a rapport with the patient than in observing formalities. Obviously,

informal approach to communication made the patient uncomfortable, and she was unable to

volunteer as much information as I needed. In such an instance, my indifference to power

differential adversely affected our conversation and hence, I failed to obtain the information in

needed from the patient. In other words, I failed to apply cultural competency, awareness, and

sensitivity when interacting with my patients, leading to miscommunication and

misunderstanding.

Instances of miscommunication between healthcare professionals and patients can be

averted through attainment of cultural competency such as awareness and sensitivity. It would be

essential for healthcare professionals to develop a general understanding of their patients’

background before initiating any interaction. For the longest time, the U.S. has incorporated

diverse immigrant and cultural groups, thus creating a potential for cultural conflicts between
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healthcare professionals and patients. Thus, nurses should demonstrate a desire to provide the

best possible care for all patients across race, gender, and ethnicity by educating themselves and

becoming culturally competent. While it is impossible to know everything about every culture,

healthcare professionals should at least demonstrate awareness of the fact that different cultures

have different rules of appropriate behavior.

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References

Eche, I. J., & Aronowitz, T. (2017). Evaluating cultural competence of pediatric oncology

nurses at a teaching hospital: A pilot study. Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing,

34(6), 422-426. https://doi.org/10.1177/1043454217713452

Jennings, W., Bond, C., & Hill, P. S. (2018). The power of talk and power in talk: A systematic

review of Indigenous narratives of culturally safe healthcare communication. Australian

Journal of Primary Health, 24(2), 109. https://doi.org/10.1071/py17082

Purnell, L. (2018). Education and training in culturally competent care. Global Applications of

Culturally Competent Health Care: Guidelines for Practice, 61-75.

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69332-3_6