NRS 493 Professional Capstone Assignment

Capstone projects are generally designed to encourage students to think critically, solve challenging problems, and develop skills such as oral communication, public speaking, research skills, media literacy, teamwork, planning, self-sufficiency, or goal setting—i.e., skills that will help prepare them for college, modern careers, and adult life. In most cases, the projects are also interdisciplinary, in the sense that they require students to apply skills or investigate issues across many different subject areas or domains of knowledge. Capstone projects also tend to encourage students to connect their projects to community issues or problems, and to integrate outside-of-school learning experiences, including activities such as interviews, scientific observations, or internships.

Topic 5: Practices of Culturally Sensitive Care and Ensuring Human Dignity when Caring for all Patients

This week my preceptor and I focused on two critical areas of care provisions; practices of culturally sensitive care and ensuring human dignity when caring for all patients. Nursing practice is founded on values that protect patient’s rights and autonomy as well as respect and dignity by their inherent component of being individuals created in God’s image (Sharifi et al., 2019). Culturally sensitive care is becoming a core part of healthcare system and care delivery because of the increasing diversity of patients and providers. Today, nurses must integrate cultural competent care aspects when dealing with patients from different cultures, backgrounds and ethnicities. The fundamental principles of healthcare entail respectful, positive and kind treatment and engagement when dealing with patients (Crump, 2019). As such, nurses can only practice culturally sensitive care when they value and respect their patients based on their diversity and perspectives.

Human dignity is an imperative for nurses as they care for all patients. Human dignity entails nursing care that safeguards and protects the self-respect and self-worth of patients. Nurses are duty bound based on biomedical principles like autonomy, beneficence, justice, and non-maleficence, to protect and ensure that patient’s inherent dignity is not compromised due to their condition (Sæteren et al., 2021). For instance, informed consent is necessary and demonstrates nurse’s respect of the autonomy of the patient. Respecting the core values and cultural practices helps in safeguarding patient’s dignity.

Respecting the autonomous decisions and actions that patients may take during care provision is a critical aspect of demonstrating human dignity and value that patients have as persons, irrespective of their current healthcare status or condition (Franco et al., 2021). Nurses can attain these aspects when they develop trusting relationships and interactions with their patients based on their needs without any prejudice or bias (Martin-Ferreres et al., 2019). Nurses should go beyond the universal human rights and integrate interdependent interactions with their patients and health populations to attain expected quality care outcomes.

I have discovered in my professional practice that culturally competent care is a core aspect of nursing and all nurses should embrace an inclusive healthcare setting because of the ever-increasing diversity. I have also learned that human dignity is a critical part of evidence-based practice (EBP) care and nurses play a critical role in protecting the dignity and value of their patients (Franco et al., 2021). My strengths in these two areas include embracing diversity, possession of culturally-competent attributes and increased integration of patient views in care plans. However, I suffer from unintentional bias that may affect my overall interaction with patient. More resources like accessing to scholarly research studies on cultural competent care can assist nurses offer quality patient care.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Crump, B. (2019). Patient dignity. Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing, 23(3), 46-51.

DOI: 10.1188/19.CJON.E46-E51.

Franco, H., Caldeira, S., & Nunes, L. (2021). Dignity in nursing: A synthesis review of concept

analysis studies. Nursing ethics, 28(5), 734-749. DOI: 10.1177/0969733020961822.

Sæteren, B. & Nåden, D. (2021). Dignity: An essential foundation for promoting health and

well-being. In G. Haugan & M. Eriksson (Eds.), Health promotion in health care – vital theories and research (pp. 71-84). Springer.

Martin-Ferreres, M. L., Pardo, M. Á. D. J., Porras, D. B., & Moya, J. L. M. (2019). An

ethnographic study of human dignity in nursing practice. Nursing Outlook, 67(4), 393-403. DOI: 10.1016/j.outlook.2019.02.010.

Sharifi, N., Adib-Hajbaghery, M., & Najafi, M. (2019). Cultural competence in nursing: A

concept analysis. International journal of nursing studies, 99, 103386.

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2019.103386.