Sample Discussion Board Post on Nursing: Cultural Competence and Religious Viewpoint

A discussion board post is a short written coursework that students post on online platforms provided by schools or professors. This assignment is designed to encourage conversation and interaction between classmates as well as encourage students to explore ideas. The format of a discussion board post is often shorter and simpler than more formal works like research papers or term papers. This sample post features the students’ view on the importance of cultural competence in nursing practice.

Prompt: The United States has perhaps the most diverse population in the world. Such cultural, ethnolinguistic, and racial diversity has profound implications for nursing practice. Discuss the importance of cultural competence in nursing practice, paying particular attention to religious viewpoints. Enrich your post with an example of a personal experience in which you integrated the spiritual health of your patient. Your response should be no shorter than 300 words and must include at least two (2) scholarly sources. You should also respond to a classmate’s post, also with a minimum of 300 words.

Discussion Board Post

Cultural competence is essential in nursing practice for the simple reason that care should be holistic. Contemporary definitions of health emphasize its multidimensionality. As the World Health Organization [WHO] states, “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (WHO, 2022). Given this definition and other similar definitions of the concept of health, it becomes essential for a nurse to integrate other dimensions of health including spiritual perspective into the provision of care. Now, taking into account the United States’ diversity in race and ethnicity, it can be concluded that cultural competence is vital to ensuring that every individual is provided healthcare services that align with their specific needs. As noted by Grewal et al. (2021), people from minority groups are more likely to experience disparities in healthcare due to a lack of cultural competence. In other words, cultural competence is important because it enables a nurse to respond to the culture-specific needs of diverse patients, thus preventing incidents where patients from minority groups receive lower-quality care.

One situation where I integrated spiritual health into the provision of care was when I advocated a patient’s right to autonomy. I was on duty in the male medical ward when a patient came in with a diagnosis of dengue fever. The patient’s platelet count was rapidly declining and we were concerned that he might develop complications, particularly bleeding. I decided to discuss this possibility with the patient in order to seek his consent to a blood transfusion if this happened. However, the patient was a member of a Christian denomination that had prohibitions regarding blood transfusion. Recognizing the patient’s right to refuse treatment on religious grounds, I decided to ascertain that he understood the situation and the consequences of his refusal to ensure that he was making an informed decision. I then informed the healthcare team of his decision to ensure that his wishes would not be accidentally violated. In the end, I cannot say that I share the patient’s beliefs. But as an advocate for patients, it is my duty to uphold the patient’s legal wishes.

Response to Peer’s Post

Dear Raven,

Thank you for your thoughtful response to the prompt. Your post has contributed excellent insight into the discussion regarding the importance of cultural competence in nursing practice. I see that you have also come to the conclusion that cultural competence is essential in nursing practice in order to provide care that aligns with and responds to the specific needs of a patient. I also see that you have successfully integrated spiritual health while caring for your patient who was diagnosed with coronary artery disease as a result of smoking cigarettes . Like you, I believe that spiritual health should be adequately assessed and integrated when formulating a plan of care for a patient. The United States has a very diverse population. We have patients that come from various religions and not just the many denominations of Christianity. It is thus imperative for nurses and healthcare institutions, in general, to establish practices and provide services that address this specific dimension of health.

On top of our posts on this thread, I would also like to add that cultural competence is also becoming more important because migration among nurses is becoming more common. As the world emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic , many countries have become more aware of the weaknesses in their respective healthcare systems. Hence, many countries have invited nurses by offering attractive wages and incentives. The United States, for instance, is expected to have a shortage of 200,000 to 450,000 nurses by 2025 (Berlin et al., 2022). This may lead to a mass migration of nurses, thus increasing interaction between health workers and patients of different cultures. Given this likely scenario in the near future, it becomes more important than ever for nursing schools around the globe to ensure that cultural competence is part of the core competencies that students will develop through education and training.

A discussion board post is a fairly minor requirement compared to longer and more complex projects like a thesis, a dissertation, or a lab report . Student nurses can expect to encounter these projects. If you are too busy to do all these, get the best professional help available by hiring a writer from CustomEssayMeister. 

References                    

Berlin, G., Lapointe, M., Murphy, M., & Wexler, J. (2022, May 11). Assessing the lingering impact of COVID-19 on the nursing workforce . McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/healthcare-systems-and-services/our-insights/assessing-the-lingering-impact-of-covid-19-on-the-nursing-workforce

Grewal, U. S., Abduljabar, H., & Sulaiman, K. (2021). Cultural competency in graduate medical education: A necessity for the minimization of disparities in healthcare. EClinicalMedicine, 35, 100837. doi: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.100837

World Health Organization. (2022). Constitution of the World Health Organization . https://www.who.int/about/governance/constitution