Cultural Diversity In Nursing Essay

Words: 1278
Pages: 6

In today’s society, there are a plethora of different cultures and beliefs. As nurses, it is important to be familiar and sensitive to the ideas and beliefs of others in order to provide the best and most competent care.
Concepts Related to Cultural Diversity in Nursing
Culture is defined as “the learned, shared, and transmitted values, beliefs, norms and lifeway practices of a particular group that guide thinking, decisions, and actions in patterned ways” (Leininger, 1988, p.158). Diversity refers to “the state of having people who are different races or have different cultures in a group or organization” (Merriam-Webster, 2014). It is important to understand the difference in the two definitions, as a lot of people use them interchangeably. Nurses have the opportunity to come in
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This mind set can be detrimental to the relationship between the nurse and patient. It is important for the nurse to practice ethnorelativity instead, which is the ability to appreciate and respect others viewpoints (Blais & Hayes 2016 p.403). Certain important barriers to keep in mind while practicing cultural competence are: stereotyping, Prejudice, discrimination and racism. If you look at members that are in the same culture or ethnic group, and cluster them all to be exactly alike, you are stereotyping that individual. This is easy to fall victim to, especially when you are not exposed to many different cultures. Another huge barrier to integrating culture and care is discrimination. Blais and Hayes defines discrimination as the differential treatment of one person or group over another based on race, ethnicity, gender, age, social class, disability, sexual preference, or other distinguishing characteristic (2016, p.404). Nurses need to be aware of their personal discrimination traits and not carry them into the