It is critical for the modern nurse to have the knowledge and competencies that define the employee’s professionalism. The lack of basic clinical skills is a severe problem for the health care professional, which affects all concerned parties of treatment. For this reason, I have found taking the Culture in Nursing Class course to be an extremely useful practice that has improved my subject knowledge and significantly developed my competencies. In this short paper, I will describe exactly what benefits the course has given me.
Primarily, it is worth saying that culture in nursing is central to the quality of professional commitment. In today’s world, globalization and tolerance are critical societal trends, and industry as important as medicine should not lag behind (Janmaat & Keating, 2019). It is essential to avoid situations in which a nurse shows disrespect for social minorities or knowingly provides substandard clinical services to patients simply because of differences in attitudes and worldviews. For this reason, Culture in Nursing Class was a comprehensive and relevant course that summarized all of the sensitivities of today’s social agenda and demonstrated what nurse behavior is judged to be appropriate and professional. Thus, for me personally, this course proved to be timely and valuable.
It also makes sense to discuss the specific topics and points that Culture in Nursing Class was able to cover. One of the most memorable lessons was the discussion of the religious and family peculiarities of the cultural work of a nurse, which took place in week 6. During these classes, not only did we do a group project, but we also participated in an online discussion, which was crucial for exploring multiple perspectives. This allowed me to evaluate different social values in more depth and take into account the ambiguity of opinions. During the second and third weeks, I was exposed to the effects of beliefs that affect the use of health services around the world as a subject of study. An important piece of knowledge I learned was that not all people have the same attitudes toward medicine, and there are communities that try to avoid doctors (NORC, 2021). This obviously affects the nation’s health outcomes and the availability of health care services. At the same time, my favorite lesson was dealing with ethical dilemmas. Always knew that many clinical care issues are too sensitive to have a strict answer. For example, such issues might involve a patient’s religious views, gender preferences for the physician, or even a discussion of a patient’s terminal diagnosis (AHP, 2021). The Week 7 assignments, along with the lectures I studied, showed me how important it is to change my behavior and be situational leaders for various ethical dilemmas. It is impossible to provide a universal rule of thumb for how to behave when communicating with Muslim patients, but it is crucial to develop strategies to adapt to the specific needs and interests of patients. This knowledge is not only fundamental for the modern health worker but also extremely useful for practice since every patient has their own complaints and needs.
In conclusion, Culture in Nursing Class was not just another course in my training, but really useful and relevant. Through lectures, presentations, and completed assignments, I was able to learn more about the fundamentals of nursing work and recognize the complete opacity of that work. When nurses interacted with me before, I thought that their work was straightforward. Now I clearly understand that every decision, every service, and even every word carries weight for therapy, which is why it is crucial to remain professional.
References
AHP. (2021). Top 5 ethical issues in nursing. Avant Healthcare Professionals.
Janmaat, J. G., & Keating, A. (2019). Are today’s youth more tolerant? Trends in tolerance among young people in Britain. Ethnicities, 19(1), 44-65.
NORC. (2021). Surveys of trust in the U.S. health care system [PDF document].