Cultural Competence Recognizing differences and building- up self awareness
An Inpatient Unit Initiative
Paule Joseph, RN-BC, BSN, CRRN, ASLNC-C, Eric Diaz, BSN, RN-BC & Gretchen Hodge-Penn, MSN, RN-Clinical Nurse Manager
The Mount Sinai Hospital ● New York, New York
BACKGROUND AND SIGNIFICANCE
DOCUMENTATION DEVELOPMENT/METHODOLOGY (Cont’d)
It is said that by the year 2042 minorities will account for
nearly half the population. Our country is increasingly
more culturally and linguistically diverse and so are the
patients we serve at Mount Sinai. Disparities in health care
access, health outcomes, and health status are major issues.
( Swirsky, 2009)
Cultural Competence refers to the ability to provide
health care measures that are congruent with patient needs
by: accepting and respecting differences & not allowing
one’s personal belief to have an influence on those whose
worldview is different from one’s own ( Ginger et. al, 2007).
UNITED NATIONS OF GP10 EAST
The staff of GP 10 East is culturally diverse and represent
the following countries:
Puerto Rico
Ireland
Antigua
Russia
Israel
Barbados
St. Kitts
Italy
China
Spain
Jamaica
Colombia
Sri Lanka
Japan
Costa Rica
Trinidad & Tobago
Dominican Republic Korea
U.S Virgin Islands
Mexico
Guyana
Ukraine
Nigeria
Haiti
USA
Panama
Honduras
British Virgin Islands
Pakistan
Hong Kong
Venezuela
Philippines
India
Poland
PURPOSE
The purpose of this project is to incorporate cultural
competence projects and create sub-cultural committee
within an inpatient unit to promote culturally based care ,
continue to provide excellent patient care and staff
teamwork.
DOCUMENTATION DEVELOPMENT/METHODOLOGY
 The project assessed the needs of the patients in 10 East
GI/ Step-down Surgical Unit.
 Assessment of demographic data for the population being
served by Mount Sinai 10 East GI/ Step-down Surg. Unit.
 Assessing knowledge and cultural experiences of the staff
 Posting educational material for easy access when
questions arise for a particular cultural group for the staff
 A literature review was conducted to identify the current
research in the influence of patient satisfaction and
patient outcomes.
 Survey our current staff to determine which country they
were from.
 Picture frame with each staff name and country flag was
developed
 Development of unit slogan:
“The United Nations of GP 10 East. We are united in
caring for you”
FUTURE GOALS
Development of researched based education materials for the GP 10 East
based of the Population being served.
Research on the impact of culturally based care to provide effective pain
management to the population being served.
Embracement of the Cultural Competence concept and adaptation of
models/theories to provided Culturally Evidenced Based Care.
IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE
Increased awareness and sensitivity toward diverse patient
populations is a first step in understanding culturally
influences health behaviors at The Mount Sinai Hospital .
Development of Cultural Competence training and new
initiatives for inpatient units can assist in improving the
quality of care for diverse patients in New York City.
It will help to validate the role and importance of Cultural
Competent Care in improving patient satisfaction scores
Development of Cultural Competence inpatient initiatives
helps to respond to demographic changes; eliminate
disparities in the health status of people of diverse, ethnic &
cultural backgrounds; improving quality of services and
outcomes;.
REFERENCES
Giger, J. et al. (2007). American Academy of Nursing Expert
Panel Report: Developing cultural competence to eliminate
health disparities in ethnic minorities and other vulnerable
populations. Journal of Transcultural Nursing. 18 (2): pp 95-102.
Leininger, M. M. (1990). The significance of cultural concepts
in nursing. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 2(1), 52-59.
Swirsky, L. (2009). Disparities. In covering Health Issues. 5th
Eds. The Alliance for Health Reform. Retrieved from
www.allhealth.org
The State of Health Care Diversity and Disparity : A
Benchmark Study of U.S. Hospitals, Institute for Diversity in
Health Management, October 2008.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Marilyn Jaffe-Ruiz, EdD, RN for her continued support,
encouragement and mentorship.
The Staff of GP 10 East for helping identify the needs to create
a cultural competence sub-committee in GP10 East.
Sylvia, McBurnie, RN, MA & Virginia Defina, NP, RN, Nurse
Educators for their continued support in these projects.
The Nursing Education Department of Mount Sinai Hospital
for allowing current training of RNs and PCAs during
orientation.