Nowadays, healthcare providers, policymakers, and healthcare
systems are facing challenges as well as bringing opportunities due to
the rising diversity of the nation. Further, it is delivering and creating
culturally competent services. Usually, the term cultural competence
is referred to the ability of the organizations and providers to
effectively provide better health care services that meet the
linguistic, social, and cultural needs or requirements of patients. In
the present case, St. Catherine’s Medical Center has planning to
merge with Hickman Community Hospital and St. Luke’s Hospital
with an aim to form Gateway Healthcare Systems. It has been
mentioned that these three hospitals will be located in the
metropolitan area in the Midwest. As a healthcare system’s HIM
director, I have found some of the cultural differences between the 3
hospitals. In the present context, these 3 hospitals have differences
in their visions (Cultural competence in health care: Is it important for
people with chronic conditions? Health Policy Institute, 2019). The
Hickman Community Hospital has the vision to ensure the safety and
security of the patient information as well as it will serve the health
information needs of the local community. For instance, St Luke’s
Hospital has the vision to promote research through state-of-the-art
health information technology and management. Additionally, the St
Catherine’s Medical Center has the vision to provide health
information to the patient with respect and sensitivity to their
privacy. It has been found that Hickman Community Hospital is the
lowest-paying hospital in the area, but still, the staff is working
collaboratively to achieve its vision because of the presence of family
culture in the workplace. It is not found in the other two hospitals.
After conducting the cultural self-awareness survey, I realized that I
have good cultural awareness in the workplace. The survey results
show total score was 48. However, there are specific areas that I
need to target for additional development and growth. I have found
that there is a pattern in my response that supports the diversity of
culture in the workplace. My response shows that I need to give
some focus to my own culture so that I can have a greater
experience, and possible development, changes, and growth.
However, cultural differences might impact job performance at the
hospitals because of the lack of communication and interactions with
nurses and doctors.
References
Cultural competence in health care: Is it important for people with
chronic conditions? Health Policy Institute. (2019, February 13).
Retrieved June 30, 2022, from https://hpi.georgetown.edu/cultural/
