Introduction: We live in global diversity where different cultures, religions, traditions and spiritual beliefs play an important role in building our lives. As in the United States, increasing diversity has been observed for decades and continues to widen; however, the same cannot apply to the population of our healthcare workers in our country. Thesis Statement: Due to the lack of parallel growth in diversity among the general population and healthcare providers, this suggests a significant impact on healthcare delivery where minority patients may receive culturally discordant medical care. Background: Research has shown that significant disparities in health care exist among patient groups that differ in the following respects, but not limited to gender, race, and ethnicity. Because each culture is unique and each has different perspectives on healthcare, it is easy to misunderstand each other and formulate our own unconscious biases. Health workers' unconscious biases against a particular culture can lead to ineffective cross-cultural health services. Therefore, knowing who we are and where we are, and being aware of a person's cultural frame of reference is important for understanding the person and reducing cultural discordance in healthcare environments. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original EssayCampinha - The Bacote Model of Cultural CompetenceEvidence and Citations: According to Kelly (2014), cultural diversity goes beyond defining the traditions, customs, practices, beliefs, and values ​​of different groups. Other faces and subcultures include thoughts, language, occupational or professional affiliations, nationality or race, age groups, gender, socioeconomic factors, sexual orientation, political views, etc. Topic Sentence: With awareness of growing cultural diversity and long-existing health disparities within diverse groups, it is important for us to provide and practice culturally competent care that is consistent with patients' cultural needs. Evidence and citations: Campinha-Bacote's cultural competence model, which includes the integration of cultural awareness, cultural knowledge, cultural skills, cultural encounters, and cultural desire, provides a framework for the development and implementation of culturally responsive health services in which healthcare professionals continually strive to achieve the ability to work effectively within the patient's cultural context. Topic Sentence: One of the main constructs of Campinha-Bacote's cultural competence model is cultural awareness, which is “the in-depth self-examination and exploration of one's cultural and professional background” (Campinha-Bacote, 2002). Evidence and Citations: Cultural awareness is necessary for every nurse because it could help guide decision making, become more open to new experiences, and learn from interactions with others. Comment: Furthermore, as the U.S. population is becoming extremely diverse, largely due to immigrants arriving in past generations, registered nursing, on the other hand, is not as racially diverse and as ethnic as the country's population. Evidence and Citations: According to Moore and Continelli (2016), nurses in the United States are predominantly white. In 2008, the primary nursing population was estimated to be “83.2% White (versus 65.6% of the US population), 5.4% Black (versus 12.2% of the US population), 3.6% Hispanics (vs15.4% of the population) and 5.8% Asian (compared to 4.5% of the population)” (Moore & Continelli, 2016). These numbers largely represent the fact that racial discordance in medical care is prevalent, as 15.4% of the U.S. population is Hispanic, but only 3.6% of the nursing workforce is Hispanic. Comment: Therefore, the need for culturally competent nurses cannot be overemphasized. Without being culturally competent, culturally discordant care results from unaddressed cultural differences between nurses and their patients. Topic sentence: I, as a nursing student, also need to practice cultural competence. It is an ongoing process, which means I must continue to learn and implement throughout my nursing career. Comment: Therefore, before caring for a patient whose culture is different from mine, it is essential for me as a nursing student to examine my cultural identity and biases in order to avoid cultural impositions and better understand my patients. Evidence and Quotes: For me, I identified as a foreign-born Vietnamese woman whose culture is heavily based on traditional values ​​taken from my home country. I value my family and friends, education, spiritual beliefs, and success. Topic sentence: An elderly Vietnamese patient with a low level of literacy, especially if he cannot understand English, often presents a challenge to me. I used to work in a doctor's office where most of the patients are elderly Vietnamese. As ingrained in their culture, the older generation of Vietnamese often underestimate the importance of their illness and place a strong emphasis on appearing healthy and active, which is referred to as maintaining "face." Because of this belief, it prevents them from understanding the need for healthcare and makes them less likely to seek it when they need it. Furthermore, most of them also have limited English proficiency, which makes it difficult for them to understand medical diagnoses, medications and treatment options and leads them to face barriers to healthcare, such as poor access to health services and a less favorable reception. results. Time and time again I have encountered patients who denied taking blood pressure and cholesterol medications because they thought they were fine and that the medications were toxic to them. Evidence and Quotes: I had a story about a patient whose age was in her late 50s. He had a history of medical noncompliance in which he did not take his medications as prescribed. One day, while coming for her routine health exam at the doctor's office, she complained of severe headache, blurred vision, and her systolic blood pressure was more than 200 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure was more than 100 mmHg. Based on the initial evaluation and her recent hospitalization due to severe hypertension, her doctor recommended she go to the emergency room for further diagnostic testing. However, the patient refused because she was afraid of hospitals and did not see the need for emergency care at that time. She said the last time she was hospitalized, it cost her a lot of money just for a fluid transfusion and a couple of blood pressure medications. She preferred that the doctor increase the dosage of her medications and let her go home. As the doctor and I tried to explain the potential complications of severe high blood pressure, the patient continued to refuse, saying she just needed to rest to make the headache go away. Based on this particular patient's story, I found it difficult, but important, to help this one.