Cultural competence is an important skill-set in our society today. Cultural competence refers to the ability to understand and interact with people from different cultures. It is crucial that people be culturally competent in any profession of their choice. Without cultural competence, it would be impossible to build relationships with people around us (Danso 2018). Instead, this leaves us to interact with people that we don’t understand, and hence this may lead to a lot of hurt and misunderstandings between people. Relationships create a very big part of who we are and they help us feel like we belong. In order to maintain healthy relationships with the people around us, we need to be culturally competent.
For instance, in a profession such as medicine, cultural competence is incredibly important (Henderson et al 2018). A good example is a Vietnamese mother who gave birth in a U.S hospital. However, the baby was critically ill and therefore needed extended care. Before leaving the hospital after being discharged, she helped in feeding and changing the baby. To the nurses’ surprise, the mother made no attempt to bond with the baby and she and her husband did not visit the baby after. The medical team consulted with a nurse who was familiar with Vietnamese culture and they understood the parents. The Vietnamese believe that evil spirits are attracted to newborns and their absence would help keep that attention from the baby. Therefore, what would have seemed like hate for their baby was a tough act of love.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
In cross-cultural communication, the place we are in, the people we are talking to is supposed to dictate whether we use formal or informal language (Wayhuni 2018). Furthermore, it should dictate which non-verbal communication tactics we use. For instance, in an office, formal language is required. Non-verbal communication for example the dressing is very crucial since dressing appropriately for the occasion can help demonstrate our mood, culture, level of confidence, and values. Furthermore, the posture we are in will definitely have an impact on what we are saying. Nonverbal communication can help match up with what we say and hence they increase trust rapport, and clarity (Hall et al 2019). Accompanying non-verbal communication with what verbal communication is a very crucial skill for people to acquire.
References
Hall, J. A., Horgan, T. G., & Murphy, N. A. (2019). Nonverbal communication. Annual review of psychology , 70 , 271-294. www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-psych-010418-103145
Danso, R. (2018). Cultural competence and cultural humility: A critical reflection on key cultural diversity concepts. Journal of Social Work , 18 (4), 410-430. www. journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1468017316654341
Henderson, S., Horne, M., Hills, R., & Kendall, E. (2018). Cultural competence in healthcare in the community: A concept analysis. Health & Social Care in the Community , 26 (4), 590-603. www.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/hsc.12556
Wahyuni, A. (2018, January). The power of verbal and nonverbal communication in learning. In 1st International Conference on Intellectuals' Global Responsibility (ICIGR 2017) (pp. 80-83). Atlantis Press. www.atlantis-press.com/proceedings/icigr-17/25890842
