Representation. It’s a core value that has to be actively protected in nursing and healthcare. With adequate representation, people of diverse backgrounds can all receive the appropriate care and attention they need at times in their lives when they’re struggling with health problems, facing long-term care challenges, or managing terminal illnesses.
As a nurse, providing culturally congruent care is vital to creating the best possible patient outcomes. This type of care focuses not only on the patient’s medical needs, but also on the cultural values, beliefs, and practices that may shape their care.
What Is Culturally Congruent Care?
Everyone wants to be treated with respect, no matter what their background is. The problem is that everyone’s idea of how to do this is different. That’s why cultural congruency matters.
A culturally congruent practice provides care to a patient while being aware and inclusive of their cultural values, beliefs, and practices. For nurses, and all healthcare professionals, it’s essential to attain cultural competence to deliver care that effectively respects and incorporates the diverse cultural backgrounds of their patients. This is especially true when considering end-of-life care.
Culture influences long-term and end-of-life care in several ways. Different attitudes, behaviors, preferences, experiences, expectations, and perceptions come up — not all patients and their families will react the same way.
Some of the ways that culture can influence care include:
- How care is planned for. Note that some cultural groups are more likely to plan ahead for their deaths. As a result, it’s easier to know what those individuals want to have happen if they fall ill or are in the end stages of their lives. You may find you are not in agreement with a patient or family’s decisions in this regard, but it’s necessary to educate them appropriately and honor those wishes.
- How the individuals approach death. Racial and ethnic minorities, as well as individuals with disabilities and other unique considerations or perspectives, may have mistrust that you have to overcome as a nurse. This mistrust comes from unequal access to health care as well as other disparities. The problem is that mistrust can lead to individuals not enrolling in services that would otherwise help or support end-of-life care, which is challenging but still must be recognized and addressed.
- How you have to handle treatment. Every culture has its own preferences for care. They may also have different ideas about how to manage things like pain or discomfort. And, of course, each culture has its own preferences for knowing the fine details, such as if an illness is terminal, if they should accept life support measures, and more. Providers have to be aware of these differences to ensure quality care and to avoid dishonoring a patient’s or family’s wishes.
Why is Culturally Congruent Care Important?
The primary reason that culturally congruent care is important is because of the different ways people from various cultures handle healthcare practices, illnesses, and end-of-life circumstances. Different cultures have varied beliefs about how care should be delivered as well as how to interact as someone seeks treatment, recovers from an illness, or declines and passes away.
Culturally congruent care is vital to ensuring the patients and their families feel seen, heard, and understood during a traumatic time in their lives. And, as the United States becomes more racially and ethnically diverse, knowledge about other cultures will remain an important component of nursing.
5 Tips for Providing Culturally Congruent Care
To provide truly culturally congruent care, it’s necessary to focus on several factors, such as how you interact with other cultures and build your own awareness. Here are five tips to help you as you work on building cultural competence and adjusting your care to be culturally congruent.
Become motivated to learn about new cultures
First, it’s important to become familiar with other cultures. There are many, so that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to study them all at the same time. But, if you have a patient who is of a different background from your own, learning more about their culture, values, and background can help you provide better care.
You can learn more about other cultures through journal articles, textbooks, or through spending time in a culturally diverse setting. You may also want to consider attending a workshop on diversity and inclusion.
Build awareness within your healthcare team
When more than one person is aware of the need for cultural knowledge and education, it’s much easier to bring everyone up to speed. Speak with your team or employer about cultural differences and how to be more in tune with patients as they go through long-term and end-of-life care.
Engage in more cultural encounters
When you’re actively involved in other cultures, you’ll gain knowledge and experience by speaking with those in those communities. Intentionally engage in cross-cultural interactions regularly, so you can continue to learn about new perspectives.
Be open-minded
The next step is to remember to always be open-minded when you work with patients of differing cultural backgrounds. As a nurse, it is important that you’re able to educate them on all their options, but you also have a responsibility to accommodate their beliefs when possible. You should not judge the way a patient or their family deals with long-term care situations, and you should actively ask them about their preferred approaches without making assumptions.
Be understanding of distrust
Finally, be aware that some cultures may not trust the healthcare system and may be wary of you and other healthcare providers. The reality is that many communities go without adequate access to care, and their past experiences with the healthcare community may not have been good. It is your responsibility to explain all the details of care and to be available to answer questions and concerns as they arise, even when they show signs of distrust.
Learn More About Diversity and Inclusion at SHC
At Supplemental Health Care, we believe that culturally congruent care can help bridge the gap in healthcare to improve care for all. As a nurse, providing the highest quality care to your patients is always a concern, and SHC is on your team.
Whether you would like to learn more about diversity at SHC or are ready to find your next position, SHC can help you find the perfect nursing job!
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