Page 176 - S. Ličen, I. Karnjuš, & M. Prosen (Eds.). (2019). Women, migrations and health: Ensuring transcultural healthcare. Koper, University of Primorska Press.
P. 176
ina Ličen, Igor Karnjuš, Urška Bogataj, Doroteja Rebec, and Mirko Prosen
Introduction
Demographic changes in the Slovenian population over the decades have
transformed the country into a multicultural society. The war in different
parts of former Yugoslavia in 1991 triggered the first major migration flows of
people from the former republics (especially Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mace-
donia, Serbia and Kosovo). Even today, these migration flows represent the
highest number of foreign immigrants in Slovenia.¹ Further, estimates show
that approximately 1.9 million people from non-EU countries immigrated to
the European Union in 2014. These figures all show that immigrant is both
growing and altering the population structure of the European Union, sug-
gesting the need for education in transcultural nursing to ensure nurses are
able to provide culturally competent care (Ličen, Karnjuš, & Prosen, 2017).
Transcultural nursing is an essential aspect of today’s healthcare and repre-
sents both a speciality and a general practice area. It focuses on worldwide
cultures and comparative cultural caring, health and nursing phenomena.
Established as a formal area of inquiry and practice more than 40 years ago,
transcultural nursing’s goal is to provide culturally congruent care (Truong,
Paradies, & Priest, 2014). Nurses must acquire the necessary knowledge and
skills in cultural competency since culturally competent nursing care helps
ensure patient satisfaction and positive outcomes (Maier-Lorentz, 2008).
There are as many varying definitions for the term cultural competence
as there are for the term culture. Culture can be defined as the learned and
shared knowledge and symbols that specific groups use to interpret their ex-
perience of reality and to guide their thinking and behaviour (Prosen, 2015).
Thus, cultural competence can be defined as a continual process of striving
to become increasingly self-aware, to value diversity and to become knowl-
edgeable about cultural strengths (Bonecutter & Gleeson, 1997). Cultural
competence may be defined in various ways but it is usually understood
as possessing the attitudes, knowledge and skills necessary for providing
quality care to a diverse population; in other words, the capacity to deliver
culturally appropriate care. However, according to Leininger (2002, 1999), the
term cultural competence was first coined by her in the 1960s as part of her
theory of cultural care diversity and universality.
Embedding cultural competence in healthcare systems enables systems
to provide appropriate care to patients with a range of values, beliefs and
behaviours, including meeting patients’ social, cultural and linguistic needs
(Horvat, Horey, Romios, & Kis-Rigo, 2014). The cultural competence in the
¹ See https://emm.si/en/migration-and-slovenia.
174
Introduction
Demographic changes in the Slovenian population over the decades have
transformed the country into a multicultural society. The war in different
parts of former Yugoslavia in 1991 triggered the first major migration flows of
people from the former republics (especially Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mace-
donia, Serbia and Kosovo). Even today, these migration flows represent the
highest number of foreign immigrants in Slovenia.¹ Further, estimates show
that approximately 1.9 million people from non-EU countries immigrated to
the European Union in 2014. These figures all show that immigrant is both
growing and altering the population structure of the European Union, sug-
gesting the need for education in transcultural nursing to ensure nurses are
able to provide culturally competent care (Ličen, Karnjuš, & Prosen, 2017).
Transcultural nursing is an essential aspect of today’s healthcare and repre-
sents both a speciality and a general practice area. It focuses on worldwide
cultures and comparative cultural caring, health and nursing phenomena.
Established as a formal area of inquiry and practice more than 40 years ago,
transcultural nursing’s goal is to provide culturally congruent care (Truong,
Paradies, & Priest, 2014). Nurses must acquire the necessary knowledge and
skills in cultural competency since culturally competent nursing care helps
ensure patient satisfaction and positive outcomes (Maier-Lorentz, 2008).
There are as many varying definitions for the term cultural competence
as there are for the term culture. Culture can be defined as the learned and
shared knowledge and symbols that specific groups use to interpret their ex-
perience of reality and to guide their thinking and behaviour (Prosen, 2015).
Thus, cultural competence can be defined as a continual process of striving
to become increasingly self-aware, to value diversity and to become knowl-
edgeable about cultural strengths (Bonecutter & Gleeson, 1997). Cultural
competence may be defined in various ways but it is usually understood
as possessing the attitudes, knowledge and skills necessary for providing
quality care to a diverse population; in other words, the capacity to deliver
culturally appropriate care. However, according to Leininger (2002, 1999), the
term cultural competence was first coined by her in the 1960s as part of her
theory of cultural care diversity and universality.
Embedding cultural competence in healthcare systems enables systems
to provide appropriate care to patients with a range of values, beliefs and
behaviours, including meeting patients’ social, cultural and linguistic needs
(Horvat, Horey, Romios, & Kis-Rigo, 2014). The cultural competence in the
¹ See https://emm.si/en/migration-and-slovenia.
174
