Cultural Competence for Healthcare Providers: Essay Example

Cultural competence refers to the ability of healthcare providers and organizations to accommodate different cultural, social and linguistic needs of their patients. Because of the diversity of cultures, it is often difficult for healthcare providers to deliver medical services to their patients efficiently. For instance, this discrepancy arises in a situation whereby there is no proper communication between the two parties because of the language barrier. Therefore, it is necessary for healthcare providers to embrace cultural competency for efficient delivery of medical services. The goal of this essay is to formulate a summary of two videos related to the topic of study. This analysis will help to expound more on the subject under discussion.

Firstly, the first video titled "Cultural Competence for Healthcare Providers" shot at Jefferson University Hospital starts with the respondents defining the meaning of cultural competence. Both the interviewees are qualified medical personnel. Out of the five respondents, only three admit being aware of the idea of cultural competence. However, two tentatively confess not to have come across the term. According to Danielle Marotta, a registered nurse at Jefferson University Hospital, the primary objective of cultural competence is to make people aware of the existing cultural differences in the society and ensure that necessary action is taken to deal with these differences. Kelly Quinley, a first year medical student further adds that apart from being open-minded to these differences, one should have a background understanding of these differences as per the culture he/she is dealing with.

Secondly, the second video titled "GR Hospital Interpreters Serve Diverse Patients" is about how local healthcare providers in Michigan strive to provide quality medical services by offering new and different kinds of interpretation technology. For instance, to meet the needs of all patients regardless of the language they speak, the language services department at Spectrum Health has incorporated phone vendors that can provide more than 200 languages in their system. Also, the hospital has computer-like devices known as mobile interpreting units that the patients can dial to get one on one conversation with certified staff interpreters. This technology ensures faster and efficient delivery of services to patients without worrying about the problem of miscommunication.

In a nutshell, from the two videos, we learn that cultural competency in healthcare does not only entails being aware of the differences in patients' culture but also treating them with dignity regardless of their skin color or language they speak. Also, it is vital for medical service providers to incorporate new technology in their language service systems to ensure that all patients get proper medical attention hindrances of miscommunication and misunderstanding as a result of the language barrier. From the first video, we can appreciate the significance of this approach by considering the case of the patient with the leg injury. He is in a lot of pain but cannot get assistance because of the language barrier. However, the patient later gets assistance through the help of an interpreter. Taking this scenario into consideration, I am confident in the validity of these videos.