Reflection of learning(22% of final grade) Length: 1000 words The focus of this task is to demonstrate what you have learned about: Cultural Identity (topic 1) and Concepts of Health (topic 2) through...

Why is it important for a nurse to know how cultural identity influences health for individuals and communities?
Introduction
Cultural competency amongst health care professionals is regarded as one of the most crucial factors which helps to provide better quality of service or care to the patients. Linguistic and cultural difference amongst health care professional can lead to miscommunication (Cass A et al,2002), mistrust on service provider(Shahid S, Finn LD and Thompson SC,2009), disempowerment and dissatisfaction (Roe YL, Zeitz CJ, Fredericks B and
BMC Health Serv, 2012). Whereas when practitioners skilled themselves with cultural competency it was observed that there was rise in the patient satisfaction (Paez KA et al, 2009), Treatment adherence (Roncoroni J, et al,2014) and information sharing and seeking (Paez KA et al, 2009). It is due to important part the nurse’s play in determining the health care experiences of the patients that is why enhancing cultural competency skill is considered as one of the oldest and most predominant of cultural competence strategies (Brach C, Fraser I and Med Care Res Rev, 2000, Betancourt JR et al, 2003). It is imperative for nurses to comprehend the importance of cultural competency as it would help them to shape up their attitude, skill and knowledge effectively so to respond to the socioeconomic issues arising out of clinical encounters can be handled with efficiently. It was reported by researchers of UC Berkeley, UC San Francisco and Stanford University that amongst one is five patients with chronic conditions over 54 years have felt discrimination within health care in a national survey which was conducted between 2008 to 2014.
Cultural Competency and its components
According to www.acog.org, Cultural competency, is defined as, "the knowledge and interpersonal skills that allow providers to understand, appreciate, and work with individuals from cultures other than their own. It involves an awareness and acceptance of cultural differences, self-awareness, knowledge of a patient's culture, and adaptation of skills." In other words cultural competency is all about understanding the cultural differences that influence in healthcare decision and to modify care by aligning to the patient’s culture. Therefore, respecting the different cultures of the patients is necessary while providing care. High degree of cultural competency can be achieved by focusing on the four main aspect which are as follows:
Attitude
The key aspect of cultural competence is Attitude as it describes the difference between just being aware of cultural differences and actively analysing one’s own internal belief systems and developing awareness. It is essential to know the disconnect as it would help the nurses to co
ect their behavioural pattern while taking care of a...