Developing tools to promote culturally competent compassion, courage, and intercultural communication in healthcare

Abstract

Background: Compassion is an important concept in healthcare, and in addition, care should be delivered in a culturally competent manner, taking into account the values, culture, and health beliefs of the individual. However, the training of nurses and other healthcare professionals may not adequately equip them to practice in a manner which is both compassionate and culturally competent. In this paper, we report on the development of three learning tools, designed to promote the skills and strengthen the capacity of nurses and healthcare professionals to provide culturally competent and compassionate care. Methods: The project involved the participation of six European countries in the development of three learning tools, covering culturally competent compassion, culturally competent courage, and intercultural communication. The principles which informed the methodology derive from the previous work on the Papadopoulos, Tilki and Taylor (PTT) model of transcultural nursing and cultural competence, and were also informed by the Intercultural Education of Nurses in Europe (IENE1 & IENE2) projects. Each partner country was required to produce one tool for each topic area, based on guidance provided by the project co-ordinator, leading to the development of eighteen tools in total. The tools were administered mainly to student nurses to test their feasibility.

Ensuring equality through the acquisition of cultural competencies in nursing education: A systematic literature review

“…Overall, the results are consistent with other literature, which commonly reports high levels of transcultural competences acquisition with the use of similar education approaches (Gallagher and Polanin, 2015;Gebru and Willman, 2003;Loftin et al, 2013;Papadopoulos et al, 2016;Shattell et al, 2013). In this regard, a variety of models describing cultural competence's multiple dimensions it has become a focus of attention over the past several decades (Loftin et al, 2013).…”

Stakeholder perspectives of compassion in nursing: The development of the compassion strengths model

“…Compassion is discussed both nationally and internationally in relation to its implications for nurse education and practice (Aagard, Papadopoulos, & Biles, 2018;Dewar & Nolan, 2013;Papadopoulos, Shea, Taylor, Pezzella, & Foley, 2016). Whilst the significance of compassion in nursing is clear, some argue that many find it difficult to define (Dewar, Pullin, & Tocheris, 2011;Von Dietz & Orb, 2000;Maxwell, 2017).…”

Sickness, “sin” and discrimination: Examining a challenge for UK mental health nursing practice with lesbian, gay and bisexual people

“…Compassion, courage and cultural competence are at the heart of nursing and mental health nurse practice must reflect this for all patients and service users, even where there is conflict with practitioner personal religious beliefs (Papadopoulos, Shea, Taylor, Pezzella, & Foley, ). The conclusion of the study of nurses who had administered aversion therapy for same‐sex attraction in the UK NHS remains highly relevant for mental health nurses everywhere:

Nurses need to ensure that their interventions have a sound evidence base and that they constantly reflect on the moral and value base of their practice and the influence that science and societal norms can have on changing views of what is considered “acceptable practice” (Dickinson et al., , p. 1345).

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“…In the UK, there are clear legal frameworks, case law and professional nursing standards and codes of conduct that must be enforced to ensure the equal treatment of LGB people in mental health services. The NMC Code (2015) Compassion, courage and cultural competence are at the heart of nursing and mental health nurse practice must reflect this for all patients and service users, even where there is conflict with practitioner personal religious beliefs (Papadopoulos, Shea, Taylor, Pezzella, & Foley, 2016). The conclusion of the study of nurses who had administered aversion therapy for same-sex attraction in the UK NHS remains highly relevant for mental health nurses everywhere:…”