Final Reflection

I have learned so much this semester about different cultures, which will be incredibly beneficial for heading into my future health care career of Diagnostic Medical Sonography. The first goal I achieved was getting a better understanding of different cultures. This class taught me so much about so many different cultures and ethnic groups: African Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, Hispanics, and Caucasians, just to name a few. The second goal I achieved was being able to look past biases in order to give the best care as possible. At the beginning of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, I was constantly judging the Lee’s for not giving Lia her medications correctly. However, it didn’t take me long to realize they were doing what they thought was best for their daughter. This taught me that it is incredibly important to respect the decisions that other cultures make for their family members. The final goal that I achieved was being able to understand some of the issues that may arise while working with other cultures. I learned that it might not always be easy, especially when a language barrier is present, but it is important to go above and beyond for every patient. This includes calling a translator, even if it takes a little extra time.

My thinking has changed tremendously after taking this course. As a CNA, I see patients all the time in the hospital that don’t speak any English. I have begun to put myself in their shoes, and realize how scary it would be to put your trust in the hands of people you can’t easily communicate with. I have so much respect for other cultures and have this class to thank for that.     

Book Club Summary

I learned a lot by participating in our book club discussions for The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. Everyone in my group was dedicated to making our discussions meaningful, and I often learned the most when I responded to other people in my group. It made me see their opinion of the story, which often opened my eyes to a point that I wouldn’t of ever thought of. I think my favorite part of these discussions was seeing how everyone’s attitude changed about the Lee family in the three discussions. In the first discussion, nobody could understand why the Lee’s would stop giving Lia her medication. It seemed like every trip Lia took to the hospital was her parent’s fault. As the book, and the discussion continued, it was easy to see that it was the language and culture barrier that caused these problems for the Lee’s, and that they truly would do anything for their children. By the third discussion, majority of our group was saying that the Lee’s most definitely were an example of good parents. I think this book was a great learning tool for future healthcare professionals, and I enjoyed being able to discuss it with others.

Diversity Resources

This week, I found two cultural awareness websites that are beneficial for my future profession, Diagnostic Medical Sonography. The first website I found is a certified trusted site from Colleges & Degrees: http://www.collegesanddegrees.com/programs/sonogram-technician/expert-advice

This website describes not only all of the different diverse people you will come in contact with, but also all of the diverse types of procedures that you will perform as well. This website really helps future sonographers get excited for their future profession. It states how sonographers must be outgoing, since they spend so much time talking to all sorts of people during their ultrasound. One of my favorite statements from the website says, “Each day is different than the day before, since all people are unique.”

The second source I found isn’t directed towards sonographers, but it definitely is beneficial for them. The article comes from Georgetown University: https://hpi.georgetown.edu/agingsociety/pubhtml/cultural/cultural.html

I found this article incredibly interesting as it talks about the growing diverse population of the United States, and how it brings so many opportunities for the health care providers. It defines cultural competence as, “the ability of providers and organizations to effectively deliver health care services that meet the social, cultural, and linguistic needs of patients.” Sonographers have a huge role in making sure any patient that comes in for a test is comfortable regardless of their race, ethnicity, or language.

Advice for Sonography Students. (2012). Retrieved April 8, 2015, from http://www.collegesanddegrees.com/programs/sonogram-technician/expert-advice

Cultural Competence in Health Care: Is it important for people with chronic conditions? Retrieved April 8, 2015, from https://hpi.georgetown.edu/agingsociety/pubhtml/cultural/cultural.html

CLAS Standards

In order to learn more about the cultural competence of my desired major, I decided to look on the Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography (SDMS) website. I found both similarities and differences when comparing the SDMS principles to the CLAS standards. One standard that stood out to me on the SDMS website states, “Maintain continued competence through lifelong learning, which includes continuing education, acquisition of specialty specific credentials and recredentialing” (Code of Ethics for Diagnostic Medical Sonography, 2006).  This means that sonographers must continue their education throughout their entire career. This is so important because as technology advances, sonographers will have to adapt to new ways of doing things. I found a similar standard on the CLAS website, “Conduct ongoing assessments of the organization's CLAS-related activities and integrate CLAS-related measures into measurement and continuous quality improvement activities” (What are the National CLAS Standards?). Similar to the standard on the SDMS website, it is stating that ongoing assessments must be made in order to continue improving quality. There were also differences that I noticed when comparing the two sites. On the SDMS site it states, “Respect the patient's autonomy and the right to refuse the procedure” (Code of Ethics for Diagnostic Medical Sonography, 2006). I never saw a standard on the CLAS list that I thought was very similar to that standard. Many of them seemed to focus on language and communication barriers that can exist between the patient and caregiver. An example of this is, “Inform all individuals of the availability of language assistance services clearly and in their preferred language, verbally and in writing” (What are the National CLAS Standards?). I believe the difference is because sonographers have a set list of standards they need to follow that relate to performing tests and procedures on patients. On the other hand the CLAS is more focused on healthcare organizations as a whole. Both of these standards are incredibly important, but it was interesting to see how these lists of requirements can be so different from each other.

https://www.sdms.org/about/codeofethics.asp

Learning Goals

From working as a CNA in a hospital right now and continuing my healthcare career upon graduation, there are many things that I hope to learn from this class. After reviewing the syllabus and Culture & Quality quiz, here are the three learning goals I have for this course:

1) To better understand different types of cultures and their medical views.

2) To be able to look past any biases that may influence my profession in order to give patients the best care as possible.

3) To better understand some of the ethical issues that may arise while working with different cultures.

Cultural Competence

This week's blog post question states: To what extent do my beliefs, prejudices, or biases influence my thinking in terms of providing services in my profession or work? After reading this question, I immediately thought that I don't let any biases or beliefs affect how I work. However, I was quickly proven wrong after taking The Provider's Guide to Quality & Culture quiz. There are so many things that I didn't know about various cultures that really could help me better understand so many people. Today, I'm going to go over a few of the quiz questions and answers that I found most interesting to me.

The first question I'm going to address is, "Out of respect for the patients privacy, the provider should always begin a relationship by seeing an adult patient alone and drawing the family in as needed."

My response to this question was true. However, the correct answer is false. According to The Providers Guide to Quality & Culture, "In many of the world's cultures, an individuals health problems are also considered the family's problems, and it is considered threatening to exclude family members from any medical interaction." This was a cultural concept that I definitely wasn't aware of. However, I am aware that regardless of how close the family is to the patient, a family member should never be used as a translator.

Another question that I found interesting is, "A really conscientious health provider can eliminate his or her own prejudices or negative assumptions about certain types of patients." 

My response to this question was also true, but the correct answer is false. Once again, The Providers Guide to Quality & Culture states, "Unfounded assumptions that lead to prejudicial thoughts usually exist below the level of our awareness. They are often untested and unexamined, yet they shape how we act." What this means to me is that prejudice and biased thoughts are always going to be there. It is the health care providers job to examine these thoughts and create new images of the patients. This concept seems very difficult and is still something that I find confusing.

The last question I'm going to discuss is, "When taking a medical history from a patient with a limited ability to speak English, which of the following is LEAST useful?" 

I put that the least useful would be asking the patient to describe his or hers descriptions and beliefs about health and illness. I thought it was this answer because it seems difficult to ask a patient who speaks little English to be able to describe their illness. However, the correct answer was avoiding yes and no questions. I understand this better now. Yes and no questions are very vague, and the patient could easily get the two mixed up. Not only that, but it doesn't give a health care provider a good idea about the patients medical history.

Overall, I'm glad I had the opportunity to take this quiz. Although I didn't think I let biases influence me, it was clear to see that there was a lot of information about various cultures that I wasn't aware of. Knowing this type of information will only help me even more while providing services at work.


The Provider's Guide to Quality & Culture. Retrieved February 18, 2015, from http://erc.msh.org/mainpage.cfm?file=1.0.htm&module=provider&language=English