NU 629 Week 2 Discussion: Cultural Competency Caring for a Vulnerable Population in My Own Community

Overview

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)
   • Effective Communication Tools 2016 (YouTube) video transcript

Initial Post

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. 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. 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.
3. 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?
4. 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.

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.  As you continue to move through this course and our program, expectations related to APA, grammar, professional writing, and assessment instructions will encourage you to stretch and push yourself, ensuring you are producing graduate-level academic work that you can be proud of.

Reply Posts

Reply to at least two of your classmates that answered different questions than you did. The replies should be well thought out with strong paragraph development (minimum of five to six sentences each), citations, and APA formatting. Note: The expectation is not that you “agree” or “disagree” with your peers but that you develop a conversation with information that is validated via citations to encourage learning and to bring your own perspective to the conversation.

In one of your reply posts, compare and contrast your vulnerable community’s characteristics or conditions, or even your own bias, with those of your peers in relationship to the question your peer answered. For your second reply post, discuss the pros and cons of an interdisciplinary approach to advocacy; evaluate the focus of team members and how they might benefit your peer’s vulnerable population in relation to the question that they chose to answer.

Please refer to the Grading Rubric for details on how this activity will be graded. Reply to at least two of your classmates on two separate days (minimum) utilizing at least two scholarly references per peer post.