Cultural competency

    Cultural competency means to be respectful and responsive to the health beliefs and practices—and cultural and linguistic needs—of diverse population groups. Discuss strategies to provide care to patients who are from different cultures and may have different cultural beliefs. For example, what might the APN do if the patient refuses a high-quality, evidence-based treatment meant to cure the illness because of cultural beliefs? How can the APN respect cultural beliefs while still providing quality care? In what ways can the nurse do more than simply “do no harm?