Cultural Humility, Diversity, and Spirituality in Nursing

Vocabulary flashcards covering core concepts of cultural humility, diversity, culturally congruent care, ANA ethical provisions, and systemic barriers from the SPSCC School of Nursing lecture notes.

Cultural Humility

An ongoing process of self-reflection and lifelong learning that involves examining one's own assumptions, learning from others, and recognizing differences in power.

Cultural Competence

The development of professional knowledge, awareness, and skills regarding cultural practices, beliefs, and values to provide culturally responsive care.

Culturally Congruent Nursing Practice

The provision of evidence-based nursing care that respects the patient's cultural values, beliefs, worldview, and practices.

Worldview

How a person understands the world.

ANA Code of Ethics Provision 8

The ethical provision stating that nurses build collaborative relationships and networks with nurses, other healthcare and non-healthcare disciplines, and the public to achieve greater ends, focusing on human rights, health equity, and culturally responsive care.

ANA Code of Ethics Provision 1

The ethical provision directing nurses to respect each person's dignity, worth, and unique attributes by using respectful language, avoiding stereotypes, and asking what matters to the patient.

ANA Code of Ethics Provision 9

The ethical provision directing nurses to recognize the profession's responsibility to advance social justice and address inequities through professional practice and policy.

Self-Reflection (in Cultural Humility)

A core element of cultural humility that requires nurses to examine their own beliefs, values, experiences, and personal biases.

Power Awareness

A core element of cultural humility that involves recognizing how social and historical power differences affect healthcare interactions and delivery.

Microaggressions

Subtle comments, questions, or everyday behaviors that send a negative message or reinforce a stereotype about someone's identity.

Macroaggressions

Overt, larger-scale actions, policies, or institutional practices that disadvantage or exclude people because of their group identity.

Stereotype

A fixed, oversimplified belief about a group.

Explicit Bias

Conscious, known, and recognized attitudes, beliefs, or stereotypes held about a person or group.

Implicit Bias

Unconscious attitudes or stereotypes outside a person's awareness that can influence thoughts, communication, and clinical decisions.

Ally

Someone who takes action to support another person or group; in nursing, this entails supporting the safety, dignity, and inclusion of marginalized people.

Marginalization

Being pushed to the edges of society or having less access to power, resources, safety, or fair treatment and opportunity.

Sex Assigned at Birth

The classification (often male, female, or intersex) recorded at birth based on physical traits.

Transgender

A term describing an individual who identifies with a gender different from the sex assigned to them at birth.

Cisgender

A term describing an individual whose gender identity corresponds with the sex assigned to them at birth.

Misgendering

The act of using a name or pronouns that do not match an individual's gender identity.

Stigma

A negative label, stereotype, or judgment about a person or group that can lead others to treat them unfairly.

Interpersonal Barriers

Healthcare obstacles rooted in how people interact, encompassing communication patterns, power differences, or unequal treatment during an encounter.

Organizational Barriers

Rules and processes within a healthcare organization—such as forms, staffing, or policies—that make care harder to access.

Structural Barriers

Larger societal systems, laws, and economic conditions that distribute resources and opportunities unequally.

Harm Reduction

A set of practical steps that lower health risks while respecting an individual's personal goals, circumstances, agency, and choices.

Coercion

The practice of using pressure or force to compel someone to act.

U.S. Public Health Service Untreated Syphilis Study at Tuskegee

An unethical research study conducted from 1932 to 1972 where participants were not fully informed about the study and were denied proven treatment after it became available.