In order to accomplish this a nurse must be culturally aware. Cultural competence has many definitions depending on its application, but overall the purpose is not to know everything there is about all cultures all over the world, but instead, we need to be aware that there isn’t just one way to do things or one way to look at things. It’s taking it in, embracing and accepting that there is diversity in our world and we should use that diversity to provide quality nursing care (Nichols 1). Today, more than ever, the patients we serve come from more assorted backgrounds made up of multiple cultures, age groups and people from all walks of life. It is imperative to educate ourselves and respect the cultures and beliefs of the patients we provide care to. Through this skill we can gain the patient’s trust, develop rapport, show respect and foster communication. This allows us to bond with our patients on another level; we take them from feeling like a number to feeling like family. We as nurses, have the exclusive ability to provide better care because we not only provided physical care, we also provided holistic care and nurture 100% of our patient (mind, body and …show more content…
Critical thinking is going beyond what is taught in school or read in a book. It is identifying a problem, looking at what you learned in school and evidence based practices, take in account what you have learned through your own experiences and applying that to your current situation to create a plan to care for your patient. “The process itself is generative. One experience opens the door for the next. In humanistic nursing practice theory, we call this kind of experiencing authentic, genuine, or “letting be what is” (HINT 21). Critical thinking is not a solo occurrence; it is something that allows you to grow and mature every time it occurs. You build on each experience by pulling from pervious knowledge thus allowing for better and more innovative decisions and quality health care. It incorporates many areas of the nursing process: patient’s current state of being, interaction with doctors and other health care professionals, and even the patient’s family dynamics. Critical thinking allows all nurses to go from being an ‘okay’ nurse to an excellent