PPN101 Week 6

Definition of culture in health contexts:
- Culture serves as the context through which groups interpret and define their life experiences.
- It represents a system of meanings that shapes how people make sense of their health experiences.
Engagement Activity:
- Think, pair, and share: Participants are encouraged to reflect on how culture influences their perception of health and illness by comparing their experiences with peers.

Nursing perspective on culture:
- Defined as a "dynamic relational process" involving selective responses and integration of historical, social, political, economic, physical, and linguistic contexts (Doane & Varcoe, 2015, p.139).
- Culture is deemed relationally determined and contextual, suggesting that no two individuals share a cultural affiliation in the same manner.
- Emphasizes participatory nature of culture, highlighting its fluidity and constant evolution.

Colonialism Overview:
- Defined as a situation where a foreign power exerts control over a nation and seeks to impose its values on the local population (Mallete & Yonge, 2022, p. 113).
- It involves the takeover of a minority population typically, often Indigenous, by another nation, resulting in unequal power dynamics (Gregory, 2015, p. 216-217).
Question for reflection:
- How does colonialism shape our understanding of culture in Canada?

Key concepts relevant to nursing practice:
- Cultural Competence
- Cultural Safety
- Cultural Humility

Definition:
- Cultural competence is described as "an ongoing process, whereby nurses strive to work within the client’s cultural context" (Potter & Perry, 2024, p. 158).
Key insight:
- It is important to understand that cultural competence is developed through continuous effort rather than being a trait one possesses.

Reference for methods:
- Adapted from Ramsden (2002), outlined in Potter & Perry (2024, p. 159).

Key points:
- Cultural awareness and cultural sensitivity are distinct and not interchangeable with cultural safety.
- Achieving cultural safety involves a series of steps or a progression.
- The outcome of cultural safety is delivering safe care as defined by the clients receiving that care (Ramsden, 2002, as cited in Potter & Perry, 2024, p. 158-159).

Definitions:
- Cultural Awareness: A preliminary stage towards understanding differences, requiring self-reflection on personal biases and feelings.
- Cultural Sensitivity: Recognition of differences among cultures manifested in varied communication and interaction styles.
- Cultural Safety: Facilitating care that is defined as safe by the recipients, while challenging unequal power dynamics across individual, family, community, and societal levels (Potter & Perry, 2024, p. 159).

Definition:
- Cultural humility involves being open and flexible, relinquishing the security of stereotypes, and reassessing the cultural elements of each patient. It requires honesty in acknowledging what one does not know (Tervalon & Murray-Garcia, 1998, p.119).

Core principles include:
- Lifelong learning and critical self-reflection.
- Recognition and challenge of power imbalances.
- Institutional accountability.

Quote from Jean Watson:
- “To care for someone, I must know who I am. To care for someone, I must know who the other is. To care for someone, I must be able to bridge the gap between myself and the other.”

Engaging Questions:
- As a nurse, what strategies would you implement to develop cultural competence, achieve cultural safety, and demonstrate cultural humility?

Definition:
- Race is a socially constructed category used for classifying humanity based on shared ancestry and physical characteristics. It lacks a biological foundation and exists solely through social interpretations.
Understanding of Race:
- The ideology of race has permeated identities, institutions, and culture, serving as a basis for discrimination and domination (Henry & Tator, 2006, as cited by Gregory et al., 2015).

Racism Explained:
- Commonly perceived as personal prejudice; however, it constitutes a complex system of racial hierarchies and inequities.
- Defined as an ideology asserting the superiority of one group over others (Ontario Human Rights Commission, n.d.).
Racialization Defined:
- The process of categorizing individuals into constructed categories that are perceived as different and unequal, leading to adverse social, economic, and political consequences.

Concept Explanation:
- Antiracism is not innate, but cultivated through conscious choices made consistently and equitably in daily life.
- It requires ongoing self-awareness and reflection; without active antiracist choices, one may unintentionally reinforce systemic inequalities and white supremacy.
Perspective on Identity:
- The concepts of being racist or antiracist are actions, not inherent traits; focusing on one’s choices and behaviors is essential (Kathleen Osta & Hugh Vasquez, National Equity Project).

Nursing Leadership Role:
- Nurses should actively combat embedded racism that harms patients and communities (Thorne, 2017).
Promoting Social Justice:
- Efforts to promote equity and social justice in nursing extend beyond policy-making; they are executed daily through practices and interactions with clients, families, and community leaders (Varcoe et al, 2014).

Definitions:
- Equity: Fair treatment based on individual needs without preferential treatment for any group.
- Diversity: Recognition of the presence of various groups within society or organizations.
- Inclusion: Efforts to allow diverse individuals to participate equally and be treated fairly (Cambridge University Press, 2022).

Commitment of DCSN:
- To cultivate a welcoming and inclusive community free from racism, colonialism, and oppression. The pedagogy aims at engaging with oppressed groups to inspire lifelong commitments towards inclusive nursing practices.

The Wheel of Power/Privilege outlines aspects such as:
- Marginalized Groups: Trans, intersex, undocumented individuals, non-binary people, etc.
- Power Dynamics: These conditions include skin color, citizenship, education, ability, wealth, and various other factors affecting status in society.

Areas of Learning:
- Discovering personal biases and context.
- Understanding one’s clients within their cultural contexts.