With every new census that gets taken, the data is loud and clear: the United States population is becoming more and more diverse, and this is likely to only continue. From the perspective of healthcare this is a critically important fact to consider. For many years, in business, it has been considered common sense that if your business caters to different cultures then you must have at least a basic knowledge about those cultures. Why should the business of healthcare be any different? Especially considering the various challenges that healthcare faces today, and the fact that hospitals increasingly can’t afford to ignore issues relating to quality of care, it behooves decision makers in both nursing programs and hospital settings to consider ways to boost the level of cultural competence among their students and nurses, respectively.
Why cultural competence matters It is well known that BIPOC communities in the U.S. experience a variety of health disparities and unequal health outcomes. These include higher rates of mortality and chronic diseases as well as unequal access to health services. These underserved populations also frequently face unequal treatment in healthcare settings and often mentally prepare themselves for unfair treatment or try to ward off such treatment by dressing nicely and paying extra attention to their appearance to try to circumvent biased perceptions on the part of healthcare staff. When they do receive unfair or unprofessional treatment, it only reinforces the feelings of mistrust that they might already have.
The reasons for these health disparities are many, but research suggests that one reason may be lack of cultural competence. “Cultural competence” in healthcare settings can be defined as the ability of healthcare organizations, providers, and staff to deliver quality care to patients of diverse cultural backgrounds and languages while respecting their experiences, values, and beliefs. It also involves, when needed, the customizing of care to meet patients’ unique social, cultural, and linguistic needs.
It’s important to also realize that cultural competence does not apply only to immigrants and people of color. It applies to any underserved and underrepresented group that may have certain experiences, values, and beliefs that differ from the dominant mainstream culture. This includes the LGBTQ+ community, people of different religions, and disabled communities. All of these communities have their own internal cultures that may not be understood by everyone in the dominant culture. For example, not everyone understands why pronouns are important for trans and non-binary people, but they are important and not showing understanding can make people in these communities feel alienated.
