Cultural Competence Essay

674 Words3 Pages
Cultural Competence—Personally and Professionally Imperative The world is becoming more diverse. Every single day, our chances of encountering an individual from a different cultural, ethnic or gender group increases. With this, so does our chances of either unintentionally offending or misunderstanding that individual if we as humans, and especially we as healthcare professionals and managers are not aware of how living in a world not designed for you can truly affect one’s views, attitudes, behaviors—their entire perception of the world. We have a responsibility both personally and professionally to begin on the road of becoming culturally competent. When patients and clients are involved, our ability or lack of ability to deliver culturally competent care could cost someone their very life. And it certainly could cost us our careers if we are not able to deliver competent care to all individuals. This is not something easily done. It takes a conscious effort and desire to do so. What does it mean to be culturally competent? Cultural competence can be defined in many ways but generally means to deliberately set out to develop an awareness of one’s own existence, sensations, thoughts and environment without letting those things have an overbearing influence on those who do not share the same thoughts or have different backgrounds. It also means obtaining, demonstrating and understanding other people’s cultures—accepting and respecting our cultural differences—and if necessary adapting our approach or care to be congruent with the other individual’s culture. This definition applies whether we are dealing with patients or clients or interacting with someone in the grocery store. There are no interpersonal interactions we should have in which we do not at least consider a cultural context. We have to be able to empathize and see the world from another person’s
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