Cross cultural Care: Key steps towards cultural competence

Problem:

Cross cultural care is not new to the nursing profession.  Leininger theorized the necessity of transcultural nursing as essential to providing competent care which has been expanded upon by other theorists.  Cross cultural methods strive for understanding and negotiating differing medical beliefs and practices which impact patient care. The WOC nurse and other health care professionals will need to become culturally competent due to the increasingly diverse population of the United States and initiatives to eliminate healthcare disparities. However education in this field has only emerged recently and has often tended toward stereotyping or limited practical application.

Purpose:

The purpose of this poster is to provide the WOC nurse and other health care providers, with insight of the disparities that occur when cultural diversity is not identified and means to resolve these issues if they are not addressed.   This poster serves as an introduction to the foundations of cross cultural care theories and discusses useful suggestions for real-world application.

Objective:

The overall objective is to create an awareness of the impact of culture on health care and patient adherence while providing tools to overcome such issues in daily practice. 

Outcome: 

The application of cross cultural care will provide a means of open communication between WOC nurses, providers and patients. Research has shown such approaches increase patient adherence and satisfaction while decreasing health care disparities.  By integrating these suggested tools, the WOC nurse can provide a higher quality of care to a culturally diverse patient population.