Culturally Competence of Healthcare Providers Essay Example

with accompanying discussions, to a National Project Advisory Committee (NPAC).

Thoughts and additional review by NPAC individuals have resulted in further refinements of the measures. The CLAS principles, in their final form, incorporate contributions from various partners including hospitals, community-based centers, managed care organizations, home health agencies, and other healthcare organizations. These partners consist of doctors, nurses, and other providers as well as professional associations, state and federal agencies, policymakers, healthcare consumers, accreditation and credentialing agencies,
educators,
and patient advocates. The finalized CLAS measures were published in the Federal Register on December 22nd,
2000,
and serve as recommended national standards for adoption or modification by partner organizations and agencies. This standard is the fundamental requirement upon which all activities specified in the alternate CLAS standards are based.

The goal is to ensure that patients and purchasers of healthcare services have culturally and linguistically competent experiences with staff. This applies not only to staff members responsible for patient interactions, but also to their organizations, which must provide the necessary support through management, policies, and systems. Respectful care involves considering the values, preferences, and expressed needs of patients. Equitable care includes communication in the patient's preferred language and ensuring their understanding of all medical and administrative information. Effective care leads to positive outcomes such as satisfaction, appropriate preventive services, diagnosis, treatment, adherence, and improved health status. Cultural competence involves recognizing and responding to health-related beliefs and cultural values, disease rates and prevalence, and treatment effectiveness.

Socially skillful care involves efforts to overcome social, language, and communication barriers, creating an environment where patients from different cultural backgrounds feel comfortable discussing their social health beliefs and practices when planning treatment options. It also includes using community

workers to assess the effectiveness of communication and care, allowing patients to express their spiritual beliefs and cultural practices, and being knowledgeable and respectful of different traditional healing systems and beliefs, integrating them into treatment plans when appropriate. In situations where individuals need additional support, it may be appropriate to involve a patient advocate, caseworker, or ombudsperson who has expertise in cross-cultural issues. One way to implement this principle is by incorporating the various CLAS standards. For example, according to Standard 3, staff and personnel should receive diverse education and training, and their competency in providing culturally competent care should be assessed through testing, direct observation, and monitoring patient satisfaction with their personal interactions. Assessment of staff can also be done in the context of general performance reviews or other evaluations included in the organizational self-assessment required by Standard 9.Social insurance associations should provide patients/customers with information regarding current laws and policies that prohibit rude or biased treatment or advertising/recruitment practices.

Ensuring a diverse workforce is crucial for providing culturally and linguistically appropriate healthcare services, but it alone is not enough. Simply hiring bilingual individuals from different cultural backgrounds does not guarantee staff members are culturally competent and sensitive. However, it is an essential component of delivering meaningful and effective services to all patients and clients. The standard defines a diverse staff as one that represents the various demographic population of the service area, including leadership, clinicians, and administrative personnel within the organization. To create a staff that accurately reflects the diversity of patients and clients, ongoing assessment of staff demographics must be conducted as part of organizational self-evaluation according to Standard 9. Additionally, demographic data

from the community should be collected in accordance with Standard 11. It's important to note that "staff" encompasses not only employees of the healthcare organization but also subcontracted and affiliated personnel.

Ensuring staff diversity is crucial for every level of an association to cater to the needs of patients/customers from various social and linguistic backgrounds. This encompasses diverse clinical staff (e.g., doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals), support staff (like receptionists), administrative staff (such as billing department personnel), ministry and lay volunteers, as well as high-level decision makers (including senior managers, corporate executives, and governing bodies like boards of directors).

This standard acknowledges the difficulties in achieving complete racial, ethnic, and cultural equality within the workforce. It emphasizes responsibility and a sincere effort rather than specific outcomes. The focus lies on ongoing endeavors to develop, implement, and assess strategies for recruiting and retaining a diverse staff while continuously evaluating quality in this aspect. Numerical objectives or quotas are not given priority.

The aim of promoting staff diversity should be integrated into the mission statements, strategic policies, and goals of organizations. Associations should employ proactive approaches such as incentives, coaching programs, and partnerships with local schools and businesses to nurture a diverse workforce capacity.

Associations should support the inclusion of diverse staff by creating a culture that values and addresses the thoughts and challenges brought by a socially diverse workforce. A socially responsible organization recognizes that delivering responsive services to a community is a collaborative process influenced by their interests, knowledge, and needs. Services that are customized and improved based on community needs and preferences are more likely to be utilized by patients and customers, resulting in more satisfactory, responsive,

efficient, and effective care. As described below, this principle involves engaging patients, customers, and community representatives in meaningful collaboration to shape the direction and practices of the healthcare organization. Patients, customers, and community representatives should actively participate in a wide range of activities related to service design and delivery.

Notwithstanding contributing to the planning and implementation of CLAS exercises, healthcare organizations should also seek input on broader organizational strategies, evaluation mechanisms, marketing and communication strategies, staff training programs, and more. There are various formal and informal avenues available for this, including participation in governing boards, community advisory panels, ad-hoc consulting groups, and community meetings as well as informal discussions, interviews, and focus groups. Healthcare organizations should also collaborate and consult with community-based organizations, providers, and leaders to work together on outreach efforts, building provider networks, providing service referrals, and enhancing community engagement.

Conclusion

This article introduces environmental health standards for nurses to incorporate in their practice to ensure nursing care is provided in an environmentally safe manner for all parties involved. These standards are grounded in nursing's historical focus on disease prevention and social justice and are set against the backdrop of ongoing global environmental change and each individual's increasing chemical burden. These principles apply to nursing homes in all settings.

Furthermore, various organizations and agencies have presented different ways to implement each guideline, along with the resources and opportunities they offer. There are also suggested activities that cater to individual nurses, healthcare teams, facilities, or communities.

References

1. Mursalski J. Hispanic woman charges clinic with ‘assault.’ Washington, DC: Legal Times 1993, May 24;1.
2. NACHO. National Association of County

Health Officials Multicultural Health Project—recommendations and case study reports.