Cultural competency is a trust and respect for the diversity, equity, fairness and social justness within a multicultural nation, such as ours. It involves being aware of one’s own worldviews, to better understand other’s views. Cultural competency involves developing positive attitudes towards cultural differences and gaining knowledge of different cultural practices and world views. Most importantly, cultural competency involves developing skills for communication and interaction across various cultures.
To develop cultural competency in the workplace, we need humility and cultural desire to engage and become culturally competent. We need to be aware and respectful of our patient’s own cultural beliefs and practices, and include them in our management plans, not disregard them. It is also important to gain knowledge on all our different cultures and religions in our country, to be able to collaborate cultures into our healthcare team and plans.
