The Purnell Model for Cultural Competence Nursing Essay

The Purnell Model for Cultural Competence
Name
Institution
Date
The Purnell Model for Cultural Competence
Cultural competence has become an essential component within the health care settings due to multiculturalism and diversity in health care. Providing holistic and more individualized health care services based on patients cultural values and beliefs has become the cornerstone of health care practice. Several models have been developed to guide nurses and other health care professionals to deliver cultural congruent care (Shen, 2014). This essay will discuss Purnell model of cultural competence and its relevance within the health settings. The essay describes the 12 domains of Purnell model and assesses how each domain plays an active role when applied by nurses serving patients from different ethnic backgrounds.
The Theory and Organizational Framework of the Purnell Model
Larry Purnell developed a model of cultural competence while teaching undergraduate students concerning cultural differences. The model includes circles with 12 constructs that influence culture. The inner rim of the circle represents the person, followed by the circle representing the family then the community. The outer rim represents the global society. Purnell model of cultural competence is based on several theories and research related to family development, communication, organizational theories, and other disciplines like religion nutrition and ecology (Betancourt et al., 2014).
According to Betancourt et al., (2014), developing cultural competence requires health care practitioners to achieve competency through four main processes. Nurses need to initially develop unconscious incompetence before gaining conscious competence to reach unconscious competence. The core concepts of culture include religious affiliation, gender, age, race, nationality, and color. Secondary characteristics include political beliefs, parental and marital status and physical characteristics among others (Betancourt et al., 2014),
The inside circles of the model comprise of 12 pieces shaped blocks that represent cultural domains and their constructs with each one being interrelated. The center of the model is empty meaning that there are unknown facets of cultural groups. Purnell model acknowledges the fact that several cultures do not have manageable expressions for the meta-paradigm concepts. Healthcare providers are compelled to adapt the meta-paradigm concept that matches individual cultural needs (Arasaratnam, 2012).
The 12 Domains of Purnell's Model and How Each Domain Plays an Active Role in the Diversity of Health Care
The twelve concepts of Purnell's model include;
1. Heritage; - this includes patients origin, residence, economic status, levels of education, political and occupation.
2. Communication: communication involves analyzing features like dilates, dominant language, names, facial expressions, touch, volume, tone, body language, eye contact and spatial distancing practices (Arasaratnam, 2012).
3. The role of family and organization: this involves analyzing patient's lifestyle, social status, child rearing practice, gender roles, head of household, patient's priorities in life, the role of the aged within the family and deve...