Having the appropriate knowledge and the understanding about the culture allows the nurse to gain the respect and trust from the patient and the family. Both, the nurse and the patient can communicate easily and effectively to work towards improving the health. It has been proven that culturally competent care is directly related to positive patient outcomes. "Efforts to improve client outcomes and culturally centered care have been championed by the Joint Commission. The national accrediting body for hospitals was represented on the committee that developed the National Standards on Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services.
Moral leadership in nursing is about professionalism, responsibility, accountability, and competency. Nurses have an obligation to preserve their patient’s values, beliefs and dignity, to assure optimal health care, personal well- being, and promote quality of life. In all aspect of nursing, nurses are role models, healthcare providers, patient advocates and are required to meet the needs of their patients. Which can be done by communicating openly and honestly, being fair and trustworthy, being proactive, and by putting patients first. Nurses are face with ethical dilemmas on a daily basic therefore, must examine their own personal and professional values and morals in order to maintain a caring and compassionate relationship with their patients.
In the nursing profession, moral responsibility is perceived as a relation way of being that involves guidance by an individual’s inner compass that is comprised of values, ideals, and standards that motivate individuals to uphold what is right. Moral responsibility is crucial in the sense that it determines the manner in which a nurse cares, and attends to the patients. Generally, moral responsibility ensures that a nurse meets the set objectives that aim at administering paramount medical care to patients (Driscoll & Breshears, 2011). The doctrine has further augmented my level of moral responsibility. I feel that I am accountable and responsible for ensuring, and upholding the moral well-being of my patients.
In this way, the patient-centred care can be ensured, and in doing so, the nurse would derive satisfaction in meeting the patient’s needs. As nurses have the unique privilege to be there for patients at their time of need, by using effective listening skills, the nurse is able to demonstrate understanding and acceptance: this intimate experience enables them to build up mutual trust, which is a prerequisite to a therapeutic relationship. The real interpersonal level of connection is only deemed to commence when the patient feels understood by their carers. Although listening has a passive or an active form, it makes a fundamental difference to the interpersonal relationship. A passive listener doesn’t offer their full attention to the speaker, and often shows little interest in what is being said, which can result in the speaker feeling less connected (Appendix 2).
It is also important because workers will need to build relationships with their patients to ensure the patient gets the right treatment and care plan. For example verbal communication is very important in a Health and Social Care setting as it can help pass on information, build relationships with patients and build trust with patients. It would be important to build a relationship and trust with your patient to ensure you make them feel comfortable and able to communicate with you to ensure they are receiving the correct treatment. Also so they understand what treatment they are receiving and that they fully understand what will happen. This would need to be one to one communication so that it is just two people talking to each other and it is easy to understand.
As cultural brokers, nurses also facilitate understanding of the patient’s beliefs with that of the other healthcare providers involve in the care. Nurses also help negotiate the boundary when cultures do not meet and help mediate and resolve conflicts. In addition, nurses also help facilitate the patient’s knowledge toward health, wellness, and healing especially on very important matters such as adherence to diet, activity, physician appointments, and medication instructions. Nurses who are culturally competent and act as cultural brokers improve the quality of interpersonal care that patients receive. This is because patients who can let their needs and issues be
The Heritage Assessment Tool: Heritage Assessment and Culture Interviews A person’s culture encompasses all of their values, beliefs, customs, and morals that are most important to them. When providing care to a patient, it is crucial that health care providers are culturally competent in order to give them the care they deserve. The Heritage Assessment Tool can be used to investigate a given patient’s ethnic, cultural, and religious heritage. It can also help to perform a heritage assessment to determine how much someone identifies with a particular tradition. It is very useful in understanding a person’s health traditions which is important in order to provide holistic care.
This practice is beneficial for treating patients as well as for working with colleagues whose cultural backgrounds are different (Green-Hernandez, 2004). Using self-reflection can help nurses to discover differences as well as similarities across many different
1.2 CRITICALLY REVIEW APPROACHES TO PERSON CENTRED CARE Person Centred Practice ensures that the patient is treated with dignity and respect, enabling them to achieve as much independence as possible. It ensures that they are treated as individuals and that their rights are maintained. This can be approached through care that affords people with dignity, respect and compassion, building relationships. Offering coordinated care, support and treatment, for example transition from home care to hospital care or referral from GP to specialist care. Being clear on who is in charge of care coordination e.g the home (nursing or dementia), social services or families.
The Nursing Code of Ethics covers respect and dignity in relationships with patients and colleagues. The nurse’s primary commitment is to the patient. The nurse advocates for privacy and confidentiality of the patient and is responsible for reporting unsafe practice. He or she is expected to be responsible and held accountable for his actions, including delegation of tasks. Nurses must be of a high integrity, have self-respect, be willing to grow professionally and educationally and have a strong moral fiber.