Does Cultural Competency Make a Difference?

Does understanding that Haitian men prefer pajamas instead of hospital gowns and that a hard-grip handshake is inappropriate for Native Americans mean these patients will receive better care?

Some states think so, according to a story recently published in USA Today.

For instance, California wants doctors to take continuing education courses in cultural competence and linguistics, and New Jersey has made cultural-competence education a requirement for physician licensure.

Some nurses think so.

Editors Juliene G. Lipson RN, Ph.D., FAAN, and Suzanne L. Dibble DNSc, RN, think so, too. They have produced a text on the topic: “Culture & Clinical Care” (UCSF Nursing Press; $33.95). The soft-cover book is an encyclopedia of information about cultural mores and beliefs of ethnic groups. Each chapter is written by nurse experts who are often from the respective country. The editors call it a “handbook to help practicing nurses give more culturally sensitive care.”

Some doctors think so, too.

About six years ago, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons compiled a “culturally competent care guidebook” for physicians that address the needs of African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Native Americans, Latinos, women and religions.

The federal government, however, is not so sure.

It is currently “financing studies examining whether [cultural] training can help health care workers get diverse groups to comply better with doctors' orders,” according to the USA Today story. So far, “no study has proven cultural competency training works, either by improving doctor-patient relationships, increasing patient compliance or reducing disparities.”

Does being knowledgeable about various cultural customs and beliefs help you give better patient care?

Can a nurse with “cultural competency” produce better patient compliance?

Should you be obligated to become educated on the cultural mores of minority patients?

What do you think?