Running head culture and cultural concepts1 culture and cultu

1. Running Head: CULTURE AND CULTURAL CONCEPTS 1
CULTURE AND CULTURAL CONCEPTS 5
A Reflection of Culture and Cultural Concepts
(Student’s Name)
(Name of the Institution)
A Reflection of Culture and Cultural Concepts
The present day globalized world is increasingly becoming
multicultural as a result of the appreciation of the concept of
global citizenship. Therefore, cultural sensitivity and diversity
are continuously becoming important aspects among nursing
professionals. I had always held an essentialist perspective of
culture before my exposure to culture and cultural issues in the
classroom and little did I know that culture is a multifaceted
element which evolves continually depending on an individual’s
beliefs, environment, and interaction with other people. My
essentialist and ethnocentric perspective of culture is due to my
longtime opinion that people’s beliefs, perceptions, attitudes,
and thoughts cannot change drastically. From my classroom
experience and encounters in a hospital setting during one of
my practicums, I now understand the multifaceted nature and
significance of culture for nursing students and in a healthcare
setting.
As suggested by Holland and Hogg (2010), culture is a mutual
pattern of values, beliefs, experience, knowledge, perception,
attitudes, time notions and religious opinions that define

2. societies’ lifestyles. Such a description refutes my earlier
understanding of the term culture as something that is constant
and objective to a given society. From my classroom
experience, Holland and Hogg’s (2010) definition consists of
both the Functionalist and Interpretative principles
underpinning culture as it suggests that every person is a
product of his or her society because every culture has i ts basis
on norms and symbols that determine society’s behavior.
Culture is thus a four-dimensional feature comprising of
elements such as practices, products, communities and persons
from a particular community. The curriculum traverses all the
continuum cultural perspectives of nursing from the essentialist
view to constructivist and critical outlooks hence equipping me
with the comprehension that culture is an ever-evolving,
complex and dynamic aspect covering the concepts of diversity
and multiculturalism on ethnic, religious and linguistic
perspectives.
As a nursing student and a future nursing professional, I have
realized the importance of culture, diversity and cultural
sensitivity in a healthcare setting. I have had a couple of visits
to local healthcare centers, and one of my observations is that
the nurses and other healthcare workers are from culturally
diverse backgrounds. The concept of culture-based care arises
from the need to acknowledge that patients originate from
different backgrounds and it is essential to have culturally
diverse and sensitive workforce for sociocultural safety.
Patients’ cultural diversity entails, and not limited to, spiritual
and religious beliefs, migrant experience, ethnicity,
socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, attitudes, and
perceptions. According to Omeri and McFarland (2008), it is
necessary for nurses to reflect on their cultural backgrounds and
identities for the recognition of their cultures and influences on
their professional practice. It is for that reason that I think
nursing education should impart students with cultural
competence by understanding their personal attributes and
attitudes, and acquiring related skills and knowledge. The

3. reason is for efficient delivery of healthcare services in the
contemporary healthcare sector where patients have
multicultural characteristics and needs (Darawsheh & Chard,
2015). Cultural competence as one of the cultural concepts in
healthcare which entail appreciating patients’ diversities, being
sensitive and understanding their therapeutic beliefs, traditions,
and norms (Darawsheh & Chard, 2015).
It is important to have a wider perspective of the culture and its
concepts. Drawing reference from my earlier understanding of
the term culture, such scaling according to West, Park, Harvey,
and Lapsley (2010), can trigger a failure to recognize some
essential healing practices, health beliefs, and practices across
the culturally diverse population. Devaluing such culturally
sensitive aspects of healthcare increases the possibility of
patients feeling abandoned, misunderstood, and vulnerable. I
can attest from the classroom exploration of the topic of culture
and my experience in a hospital setting that a lack of
understanding of the concepts of culture among nursing
professionals can perpetuate ethos of unsafe and unprofessional
cultural practices. They comprise of actions which can
disempower and demean patients’ cultural wellbeing and
identities.
In summary, the reflection of lessons from the topic of cultural
concepts and mirroring them in my past experiences reveals that
having a wider perspective and deeper understanding of the
concepts is essential for cultural safety. It is for that reason that
nurses are inspired through workshops and exposures to
culturally dynamic settings to increase their cultural sensitivity,
competence, and awareness. Holland and Hogg (2010) describe
the concepts to be essential elements in recognizing and
carefully balancing powers existing in nurse-client relationship
healthcare models. Nurses should endeavor to increase their
competence and understanding of their cultural attitudes,
realities, and beliefs in addition to raising awareness of how
they can impact on the views, traditions, and beliefs of others.

4. References
Darawsheh, W., & Chard, G. (2015). The Challenge of Cultural
Competency in the Multicultural 21st Century: A Conceptual
Model to Guide Occupational Therapy Practice. The Open
Journal of Occupational Therapy, 3(2):1-24. Retrieved from
htp://dx.doi.org/10.15453/2168-6408.1147
Holland, K., & Hogg, C. (2010). Cultural Awareness in Nursing
and health care, 2nd edition. London: Hodder Arnold.
Omeri, A., & McFarland, M. (2008). Transcultural nursing:
pathways of cultural awareness. Sydney: EContent Management.
West, R., Park, T., Harvey, N., & Lapsley, J. (2010). Cultures
and Nursing: In Kozier and Erb (Ed). Fundamentals of Nursing
(1st ed.). French Forest, NSW: Pearson.
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