d measures of cultural competency. Otherwise, there is no way to evaluate whether the extension of this construct into training, education, and practice is merited. The purpose of this report is to describe and discuss various tools and instruments that have been develop to assess culturally competent nursing care. The paper begins with a definition of "cultural competence" in nursing and a discussion of its importance. This is followed by examination of several assessment tools. The last section of the paper presents conclusions formulated on the basis of the material examined.
Culturally Competent Nursing Care: Its Meaning and Importance
Meleis (1996) reports that due to factors such as increasing diversity, increasing disclosure of identities, increasing inequity in access to health care and to care delivery services now more frequently being moved to homes, the 21st century is going to experience a greater and greater need for culturally competent nursing care. In other words, the healthcare field in general and nurses in particular can be expected to more and more frequently interact with patients from diverse cultures, a fact which makes culturally competent care extremely important in this day and age. Moreover, it can be expected that in the coming decades, culturally competent care will become even more important given trends in the healthcare field. It is not unreasonable to state that part and parcel of providing culturally competent care is arriving at a clear definition of what is meant by the term.
While definitions of 'culturally competent nursing care' can and do vary somewhat, Leininger and McFarland (2002) state that most definitions view cultural competency in nursing as a process involving caring, cultural sensitivity, cultural knowledge and cultural skills. In this regard, cultural sensitivity refers to having an awareness of cultural biases and avoiding allowing these biases to affect one's nursing pr...