Culture in nursing dq # 12
Cultural self-assessment is an essential part of any health care organization, institution, or agency. It involves assessing the culture of an organization in order to identify areas that need improvement and potential strategies to strengthen cultural competency. The process typically begins with a review of organizational policies, procedures and practices in order to identify any cultural biases or disparities that may be present.
The content of a cultural self-assessment typically includes demographics related to staff and patients; existing training programs for employees; assessment tools used for patient care; access to language interpretation services; whether collaborative partnerships have been established with organizations from target communities etcetera.
Additionally, organizations should also assess their diversity in terms of roles held by staff members (e.g., administrators vs providers) as well as leadership positions filled by individuals from underrepresented backgrounds. Another important aspect is understanding how elements such as communication styles or decision making processes vary across different departments or teams within the same organization.
Overall, a comprehensive cultural self-assessment can help uncover underlying disparities which will then inform efforts towards increasing cultural competency among employees while improving outcomes for patients over time. This process should be regularly updated in order to ensure that practices remain relevant based on changing demographics and societal needs.