Cultural Competence and Cultural Sensitivity
Cultural sensitivity entails a person having a good understanding that other people’s cultures are different to his’ or hers’ (Building Culturally Competent Organizations, n. d.). However, a culturally competent person is unable to assign values to the uniqueness of different cultures. Thus, there is no aspect of action-taking as far as cultural sensitivity is concerned. On the other hand, cultural competence involves a person being able to function effectively in multi-cultural settings. According to Handtke, Schilgen, and Mösko (2019), cultural competence entails a set of congruent policies, behaviors and attitudes that allows professionals, systems and agencies to operate effectively in a cross-cultural environment. A culturally competent person is able to incorporate different attitudes and behaviors that demonstrate his or her understanding and appreciation of other cultures and work effectively in a cross-cultural environment to attain better outcomes for every party involved. Thus, cultural competence moves beyond the mere understanding of cultural differences to using this knowledge to shape one’s actions, behaviors, and strategies.
On the other hand, cultural sensitivity is an essential component of cultural competence. A person can only be able to operate effectively in a multi-cultural environment if he or she understands the hidden aspects of different cultures (Lutz, 2017). However, cultural competence is a more advanced form of cultural awareness. In healthcare settings, cultural sensitivity involves a person understanding that there exist significant differences between cultures when it comes to the conception of time, social behaviors, and language.
A family nurse practitioner who is culturally competent ensures that he or she show respect for his or her patients, for example, by seeking the help of a religious leader or interpreter when dealing with people from specific cultures. Also, he or she should be ready to ask his or her male or female colleague to help in the treatment process in case his or her patient’s culture emphasizes the separation of gender. However, a family nurse practitioner who has achieved cultural sensitivity is only able to identify that there may be language barrier when he or she is interacting with his or her client from another culture but does not do anything to address this problem.
References
Building Culturally Competent Organizations. (n. d.). https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/culture/cultural-competence/culturally-competent-organizations/main
Handtke, O., Schilgen, B., & Mösko, M. (2019). Culturally competent healthcare–A scoping review of strategies implemented in healthcare organizations and a model of culturally competent healthcare provision. PloS One, 14(7).
Lutz, S.A. (2017). Cultural sensitivity: Importance, competencies, and public relations implications. Retrieved from https://trace.tennessee.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=3083&context=utk_chanhonoproj