Cultural Competency Caring for a Vulnerable Population in My Own Community

Cultural Competency Caring for a Vulnerable Population in My Own Community

Cultural Respect & Competency—Caring for a Vulnerable Population in My Own Community

Effective health communication is as important to health care as clinical skill. To improve individual health and build healthy communities, providers need to recognize and address the unique culture, language, and health literacy of diverse consumers and communities. As Advanced Practice Nurses, we must be knowledgeable but also culturally savvy and understand the nuances of the populations that we serve.

Prior to writing this week’s discussion post, first, complete the self-assessment checklist, reflect upon the information you learned about yourself, and then review the following learning material:

1. Cultural Competence Self-Assessment Checklist (PDF)
2. National Institutes of Health: Cultural Respect
3. Health Resources and Services Administration: Cultural Language and Health Literacy
4. Effective Communication Tools 2016 (YouTube)

For this discussion, identify a vulnerable population in your own community. Describe the characteristics of this group—what makes them vulnerable—and utilize at least three scholarly resources to answer one of the following questions for your initial post.

1. 1. Paraphrase concepts/theories specific to healthcare disparities as related to vulnerability; provide at least three applications of concepts/theories that could be implemented within your community.
2.  
3. As an APRN, how can you advocate for this identified vulnerable population within your community? List and discuss at least three ways in which you can advocate.
4.  
5. How does what you learned about your own cultural competency affect how you might approach your role as an advocate? Did you find that you had bias? Were you aware of your bias prior to this exercise?
6.  
7. As an APRN, how will you strive to be culturally competent and respectful to those you serve? List and discuss at least three behaviors/characteristics of a culturally competent and respectful APRN.
8.  

Note: Evaluate your APA proficiency and make sure you address each of the required elements for this discussion. Utilizing headings for each aspect of the question is a great way to know that you covered the elements of the question.