Ethics and cultural competence in professional practice

¶ … Ethics and Culture

Annotated Bibliography

Ethical and Cultural Competency

Vanaki, Z., Memarian, A. (2009). Professional ethics: beyond the clinical competency. Journal of Professional Nursing, 25 (5), 285 -- 291

The author found that the professional ethics are the core determinants to perform a better duty at the workplace. The behavior of a person at work place helps in making relationship and bonds with the team members, responsibilities, the patients, the staff and helps in better understanding of workplace strategies that are termed as professional ethics. The researchers found that the personality of a person depends a lot on the expression of compassion, love, care and attention. The survey was done on the nurses working in the hospital where they explained that despite the cultural differences, if they make a bond or a relationship of care with the patients. That helps a lot in maintaining the confidence of the patient and its treatment towards the disease they are suffering from.

There is no doubt that personal characteristics do matter, but if the workplace is taking care of its employees in term of giving them facilities, trainings, the better equipment and work conditions, the caring management and respect. The employees will have the reciprocal respect and care for the organization.

The employees feel more responsible and determined to the work or responsibilities that have been assigned to them. When they feel responsible that will make them ethical in the workplace and with the people they are working with. They may be the team members or patients. So the professional ethics help the nurses or other employees have the clinical competency or exhibiting a good and compassionate behavior towards the clients.

Altmiller, G., Gurten, L. (2009). The Moral Dilemma of Cultural Competence. Pa Nurse 64

(20), 20-1

The authors found that health care units or the organizations must have transcultural aspect in the organizations. Though nurses are of the view that they treat their patients first as a human, then they see anything else. But if they infuse the element of cultural competence. That will obviously enhance the relationship of care at both the ends, the patient and the nurses.

The health care system is the most valuable system in which care and love play a vital role in treatment. If biases are played there, the overall system may collapse. The respect of culture enhances the communication process, value to each other, and a good behavior makes the patient humble even in the severe pain or agony.

Johnson, Y.M., & Munch, S. (2009). Fundamental contradictions in cultural competence.

Social Work, 54 (3), 220-231.

The researchers argued that the cultural competence is a term that refers to behave in a good way to every individual, who may belong to a different race, ethnicity or demographic. They found that the social work trends are at the odds of this society. The contradictions no more exist relevant to the way people living today. The people from different religion, race, culture, ethnicity are living together, being friends with each other, behaving in a civilized manner with each other.

The immigrants, who come from different country starts living in the different communities, they are facing no issues of adaptability. Everyone is following the cultural competence. The way people used to have a difference of opinion and contradiction 30 years back is no more existing. The extent of globalization has made the trends and aware the people to accept with differences. The globalization has made people to understand and respect the personal and private life of everyone.

The researchers found four major contradictions that social work people must get training of. The first is when the social work person tries to cater any person they must know the culture and ethnicity of that person prior when they are going to cater them. The social work people should not divide people into different classes. The client should be a client whether they are from upper, middle or lower class. The third contradiction is the social work team must be trained in order to respect every social group and respect the individual rights. The fourth contradiction is the training and educating the social work to achieve the good behavior and treatment of people belonging to different groups of societies.

Gilbert, K., Bhandari, M., W. (2011). Cultural competency in health care. Web sites for health care providers and educators.

The researchers found that the global orientation has made the countries diverse with the people of different cultures. Different cultures have different standards of living; they have a different way of thinking, even eating and the type of care they demand and need. The United States has turned to be a global market in which people from different backgrounds are present. The concept of globalization reflects the sense of equality that is treating different people equally and fairly. The health care department is one of the biggest areas which need to be protected from the prejudices of cultural inequalities. It is a very sad to know that American being the global country with Asians, Africans, Indians, Blacks, people from Alaska and much more.

There is a need to fill the gap of disparity, gap of differences, a gap of misconceptions and gap of inequality. Minorities are suffering in the medical treatment but the poor group is also suffering in this field. A survey was done and the results showed up that white people living in the United States are getting better treatment than the people of other color. Even the rich or the people with high income are getting and receiving better treatments than the people who are poor. The class and the color differences must be avoided due to being a global society.

McEldowney, R., Connor, M., J. (2011). Cultural Safety as an Ethic of Care: A Praxiological Process. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 22(4), 342 -- 349

The authors found that the in order to protect the culture and behavior of individuals, there is a need to practice the ethical behavior. Ethics are the normative behavior exhibited by an individual while interaction. Especially when a person is working in the field of care such as health related organizations. Health care organizations have the liability to be humble, calm and enthusiastic about the patient's health. There is always a need of competent nurses to provide better services to the patient so he or she might feel better. Because when a good behavior is exhibited, it shows that a person is not being biased to cultures or ethnicity or class and he or she is valuing the client or a patient who needs your help and a good behavior so he or she gets open up to you. Apart from treating the behavior matters a lot. A few soothing words can make the patient forget his pain because he or she feels that they are in secure hands and there is no need to worry.

When a nurse is going through examining the patient they are in need to exhibit wisdom, good behavior and compassion towards him or her. This will make the patient comfortable and relax with the nurses and the treatments they are going through. The compassionate behavior is the key to control patient even if he is sick for long and in distress for months. This all can be exhibited by open communication without any barriers. The nurses or the clients are supposed to interact with the patient in good manner with no biases of cultures, ethnicity or demographic location.

Siegel, C., Haugland, G., Rose, L.R., Reid, L., Hopper, K. (2011). Components of Cultural Competence in Three Mental Health Programs. Psychiatric services, 62 (6).

The researchers have worked really hard and try to have a look at every aspect of the three cultural communities such as African-American, Afro-Caribbean youth and a Latino adult for the treatment of their mental illness. The researchers found that the program to train the staff, in the way patient needs or requires is important to make patient improve in the given time period. Especially when the races and ethnicity comes to play.

It is very important to train the staff in cultural dimensions a patient belongs. Because every culture has its own dimension of care and healing things. Such as Trust building helps in making the bonds with the patient and can eliminate the complex in the patient's mind, that he is having this mental illness as the punishment of his bad deeds. Because mental illness is seen as a curse in some cultures. So the staff must be trained in order to be a liaison between patient and family, between patient and staff to take the patient out of this mental stressful condition.

The moral support is very much required which can be build with the patient by avoiding the fact he is black or white or belong so some other ethnicity. Mental health is a psychiatric issue, the researchers found that if the patient is given friendly environment such as playing different games, family involvement, if staff behaves friendly and not making the patient guilty especially if the patient is African or Latino or Caribbean that will help the patient to get out of his or her mental illness easily. The staff must be bilingual and bicultural that will also remove the communication barrier and cultural problems the patient may feel in opening up.

Clingerman, E. (2011). Social Justice: A Framework for Culturally Competent Care. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 22 (4), 334 -- 341

The researchers argued that the cultural disparity regarding the health care treatment comes under the social justice. It means that the society in every means must be justified and the favoritism and biased attitude and behavior will do injustice with the people of other cultures. The main aim of this research paper is to lighten up the factors that force a person to be biased and the ways in which this behavior, attitude and dilemma can be altered. Social justice is a term that implies the phenomenon of equality, being just and fair, healthy relationships, communicative approaches, and being hale and heartedly to everyone, whether a person is native or from another culture.

The health care department is the main area which is lacking the social justice in treating the people from other cultures and race. It is a predicament which must be resolved by making the health care department educated by giving them trainings, courses of awareness and treating human as human not as a person with racial preference. The leadership of the health care departments must take care of these biased treatments between the nurses and patients. Social justice must be implements in order to make every human equal and making their treatments valued and respectful. The cultural competence must be incorporated in the organizational framework, so it should be followed as an SOP of the organization. So there should be no biased treatment or no treatment to the other ethnic groups.

Carmichael, T., B. (2011). Letter to the Editor: Cultural Competence: A Necessity for the 21st Century. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 22(1), 5 -- 6

The authors argued that when we talk about the cultural competency. We need to understand that whether it can be achieved or not. If yes then how it can really apply to remove the cultural disparities. There is a need for continuous training and educating the nursing staff in regards of appreciating and respecting the people of another color. Health care treatments must be seamless of any prejudice, bias or partiality. Because a patient is a patient and a sufferer. He needs a pure treatment as soon as possible; he or she enters a hospital or a clinic. But if the staff there hesitates its treatment due to the cultural disparity. It will be so unfair to that individual. Because an individual is a human being. After all he needs treatment to treat its disease. The trainings should be so consistent that the cultural competence becomes a behavioral component of nursing staff. This will happen only when these things will be openly discussed among the knowledge getters.

We all need to discuss the cultural competence openly and critically in order to know the reasons of treating the patients with bad behavior. There is a strong need of making people and nursing staff aware of the facts is that a patient is a human being, he should be treated as an individual not as a person from different ethnic group. This has to be done otherwise, the minority groups will be neglected in every area, especially in the medical treatment concerns.