Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] This is the All1Nurse podcast where we are bridging the gap between the stethoscope and the soul and getting back to the human side of healthcare.
[00:00:15] Powered by Riverside did you know that the most important commandment according to the Bible is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind? And Jesus also emphasized a second commandment that is equally important, love your neighbor as yourself. Welcome to another episode of all one Nurse Podcast where I'm your host, Nurse Chanel Tompkins, and I am so glad that you are here with me today. Today we're going to be having an impactful conversation on cultural compet what it is, how it applies to nursing programs, the workplace, as well as with advocating for our patients. And we're going to talk about integrity and how it's okay to be accountable in nursing. And then we're going to end with personal growth and what that looks like for you because a lot of the things that we desire starts with us. Now, before we get right into it, I want you to go ahead and click that subscribe button or share this episode with a friend or two. And don't forget to tune in to the end of this episode so that you can hear about some of the amazing things that I am doing with all one Nurse, the All One Nurse community, which you are a part of for nursing students and new nurses. And if you're interested in interested in becoming a guest on the All1Nurse podcast, then stick around so you can find out how you can do that as well. Before I dive right in, I want you to open up your heart so that you can receive this impactful information that you are about to tune into now. Getting right into it. Cultural competency. What is it? Well, according to Oxfordreview.com, it refers to the ability to understand, communicate, and interact effectively with people from diverse cultural backgrounds. It involves being aware of one's own cultural biases, appreciating cultural differences, and developing skills to navigate into cultural situations with respect and empathy. And One thing that Oxfordreview.com points out is that cultural competency requires awareness, knowledge and skill.
[00:02:49] And the benefits of becoming culturally competent is better relationships. Now, when I think of a culture, I'm thinking about ethnic background. It could be a certain state status in society. It could be just the different area that you are from, right Just here in the United States alone, from the north to the south, the culture is different. From west side to east side, the culture is a little different. And so one thing that I believe that we can all do is have an open mind and be aware of the fact that we are not all the same. And it doesn't make me wrong or right, but. But that we are different. And that what makes us even more colorful now when it comes to nursing programs, being culturally competent as an instructor, for the short span of time that I was a clinical instructor, one thing I realized was, you know, you have to be able to reach your students and your students have to learn you. Like the learning goes both ways. But in order to understand a student and how they learn best is to actually create dialogue with them. Like, it's one thing that I want them to learn the content, it's one thing I want them to be successful and they have to meet all these requirements for the program or whatever part of the curriculum that I am assisting with as the educator. But just really having that conversation with my student when instead of assuming, instead of assuming and coming from a non judgmental and unbiased place. So instead of saying someone is lazy, instead of saying that they do not understand the material, they're not smart enough, maybe I need to create dialogue with them, have a conversation with that person to really get up under the table with that student, to understand why this student not being as successful or what makes this student very successful in the program, but their peers are not thriving as much. So you want to create that environment to where you have a relationship with your students, your students have a relationship with you in the.
[00:04:58] In that you're culturally aware, culturally competent enough amongst diverse students that you still create a positive environment for everyone. And then when it comes to working in healthcare, for me, nursing is my first real career. Before that I worked in fast food.
[00:05:18] And then once I became a nurse or just going through the nursing program, being a person of color, it was only a handful of us in the program itself.
[00:05:27] And then getting out into the healthcare community, I had to, first of all, I had to start learning. I had to learn how to be uncomfortable going into the nursing program. And so I continued to learn to be uncomfortable, but come in showing myself kind, showing myself friendly and creating opportunities to get to know others instead, instead of standing off or assuming that they did not like me because I did not look like them, but instead showing up with a smile, speaking, introducing myself and going from there. A good example with physicians, I always tell interns or nursing students speak, especially interns, because I feel like this is a good opportunity for them to interview the unit as well as the unit is interviewing them in so many ways and so speak I would always speak to providers because it was always difficult to communicate with a physician as a new nurse, like, oh my God, I gotta call the doctor. But I became more comfortable as I spoke to them. And I just said, hey, Dr. Jones, I'm Chanel, or hey, Dr. Jones, how are you doing today? And went from there. So then I developed a relationship. Even if it was only on speaking terms, the relationship was established, like, I'm Chanel, I'm gonna speak to you.
[00:06:52] And I left it at that. Interacting amongst my co workers, I found that we're just not all the same. Being in the mid south and I'm from Arkansas, I always say I am so country and I'm very hospitable. And I think that hospitality is just ingrained in me. I was just raised this way. I was ra. Yes, ma'am, no, ma'am. No, sir. Yes, sir.
[00:07:17] And I can remember having a clinical student who didn't say, yes, ma'am or no, ma'am to me. And in my mind I'm like, she is rude.
[00:07:27] But as I created dialogue with that clinical student, come to find out that person was not raised to say yes, ma'am or no, ma'am. Yes, sir, no, sir. So they weren't being rude. It's just that they were not raised to say that, and that's okay. And one thing that I'm learning is that no matter where someone is from, no matter what someone looks like, we are, we can all be aware of each other's differences. And that just takes some intentionality to be aware of someone else's differences. When it comes to patients, it is also vital to be culturally competent, especially when it comes to advocating for them in a way that we are supposed to, in the way that we are accepting, expected to, according to the American Nurses association nursing code of ethics.
[00:08:21] And one thing I've seen time after time is that a patient comes in, they do not speak English. And the provider or the nurses, they go in and they speak slow and loudly to the patient. It doesn't matter how slow you speak, how loud you get, the patient does not understand English. Therefore, you have to make time and get an interpreter. Because the best care requires asking questions and doing a detailed assessment. So you have to ask questions and you have to look over your patient, do an assessment, touch them, listen to them, use your stethoscope. And I'm going to say that one more time, use your stethoscope. So my main takeaway with patients and being able to advocate for a patient and being culturally competent when it comes to your patients is to again, ask questions, inquire about what it is that they are expecting, what do they prefer, and go from there when it comes to their diet, their treatment. Because we want the best patient outcome, but we can't have the best patient outcome if we don't consider the patient. So, yes, use your interpreter, your language lines, whatever it is that your organization may use.
[00:09:44] Now, jumping right into integrity. I've always heard of integrity as doing the right thing when no one is looking. And to add to that, it is also staying true to your values and being accountable for your actions. So I love the being accountable part of integrity. We always have to be aware because sometimes we could be raised on values that are not necessarily well intended.
[00:10:13] So we do have to check our values and make sure that they are actually aligning with, like, God's principles of being life giving and not hindering. When I think about someone with integrity, I think of someone who is trustworthy, who is dependable. And that's why I don't like referring someone if I do not know their character or their personality. Like, I don't know if I could really vouch for that person if I don't know their character. Like, are they gonna be dependable before I refer them for a job or whatever the opportunity may be. And just going back to my episode with Dr. Farrah Lawrence, the nurse career coach. You know, we talked about you being a brand. You yourself, you're a brand, especially as a nurse, and your reputation goes before you. So your reputation is kind of an ideal of what your integrity is. Because what do people say about you in your absence when they hear your name? What do they think? Do they think, oh, this is somebody I can trust? This is somebody who's very loyal, dependable. Is this somebody who's accountable for their actions? Is this somebody who does that, I believe, do the right thing when no one is looking because they appear to be doing the right thing while people are present. Right. And when it comes to being accountable, as a nurse, especially as a new nurse, I always say, give yourself grace. Because even the most seasoned nurse makes mistakes. Because we're all human, even when we depend on technology, technology is not perfect.
[00:11:53] So as a human, we're definitely not perfect. So be accountable for your actions. And a good example of this, like a med error. So if someone makes a med error, you're supposed to be giving clonazepam and instead you gave clonidine.
[00:12:11] Say something. Say something. Call the provider. Assess your patient. Always assess your patient. Notify your provider, let your charge nurse know, and you may have to file a report about it, because what if that medication was stored in the wrong section of your automated medication dispensing system?
[00:12:31] But either way, I've heard managers say time and time again, I'd rather for someone to tell me the truth, be honest about their mistake, than to not be honest, even though it's obvious that you're not being honest. Because we understand that mistakes are going to be made. And how can your manager trust you to do the right thing if you're not going to hold yourself accountable for your mistakes? So hold yourself accountable. It's okay. It's not the end of the world, hopefully. But let them know if you have a near misses, like something that could have harmed the patient but you caught it and it didn't. We need to let people know. We need to submit the reports so that it doesn't happen again to another nurse or another patient. We're only human. We're not going into the workplace saying that I'm going to hurt somebody today. No, it's the unintentional harm that we want to prevent as well. So be a person of integrity. And last but not least, I want to encourage you to continue developing yourself personally. Continue to grow. Wake up with a heart of gratitude and go forth with an open mind. Create those opportunities for yourself. Create space for positive things to happen. What does personal growth look like to you as a nursing student? You're in the nursing program. I'm proud of you. That takes some action, right? Coming through nursing school, you've graduated or you're preparing to take boards.
[00:14:15] That takes action and that takes showing up. So you are growing. You've grown from a nursing student to a new nurse. That is awesome. Pat yourself on the back, celebrate your small wins, and continue to create space to grow. Create that mindset of growth. Be intentional about you.
[00:14:38] In nursing, you have to consider others. Patients are. They are our bottom line. Without patients, there would be no need for nurses. So continue to grow as an individual. And if no one has told you, I am so proud of you. I am so proud of you for getting through the nursing program or getting through the last semester of nursing school, graduating nursing school, passing boards or preparing to retake boards because we all know that failing boards is not, is not how good or bad of a nurse you're going to be. Right? You just have to learn how to take that standardized test and show that nclex lady that you're safe. And with personal growth, cultural competence, becomes a part of that. Because in order to create those positive relationships amongst each other, we have to be aware of that other person. Our colleagues, our, our peers, our classmates, whatever level of nursing that you're in. And just going back to the Gospel of Matthew, when we talk about love, love God, then love your neighbor as yourself. So God is saying, love him, love yourself and love your neighbor. And with that love, I think, do I love? Am I truly loving what I'm doing? Am I truly in love with me, with what I am doing?
[00:16:11] Me personally, when I wake up, I know the devil is like, she up again. Like, here she go. Because I love the fact that the Lord woke me up, started me on my way. And I love my job as a nurse because it truly fits my personality. And everything about me goes into every area of my life. I'm the same person at home, at church, at work. Like, I just love people and that's okay. And I love what I do. I love taking care of people, I love taking care of others. Making sure that the well being of others is taken care of in a way that I could take care of it. Now let the Lord do everything. It's just through me that he is working. Because if, if I try to take on everything, then that burden becomes too heavy and I'm not God. At the beginning of this episode, I mentioned, what you desire starts with you. And a good example of that is when I started working on one, this one specific unit, there wasn't a lot of teamwork. Even though the staff was doing their job, the nurses were passing meds and doing their job. There wasn't a lot of teamwork. And so at first I was like, well, I'm just gonna show up and just do my job too. But then it was like God just told me plain as day, like, that's not who you are though. Like, you are a person who you are intentional about having that team oriented environment. You speak to others and so don't stop being who you are. And so I decided to keep being who I was. And guess what? The environment started to shift. And then it create opportunities. Created that shift where in those opportunities, I kept being who I was. And it caused those around me to start to shift and become a part of that teamwork culture. Because that was an expectation from that one opportunity where a patient needed to go to surgery. And so I'm thinking, can you go get a zole? I'll draw labs, somebody go get a stretcher. It's not even my patient, but they're like, huh? And I'm like, don't this patient need to go to surgery? And they're like, yeah, okay, then. Well, come on, y'all. We. We're here for the patient, right? And so we do all the things, the patient get down to surgery. And it's like something shifted because of that. Because now we're not only just caught in our own way, and people may not realize that, hey, this is what they need. Like, you need teamwork. And because of that, that one opportunity that created itself and that I was still being the person that I desired to see in that environment, which was a team player, others became team players, and they will ask, hey, Chanel, what you need? And I'm like, are you being a team player now? I'm thinking that in my mind, I wasn't going to say that to them. But keep being who you are as you're growing. And you have to understand that as you grow, those who that are meant to be connected to you will grow as well. And I always say everything connected to me will grow because I'm all about thriving. And even when it doesn't feel good, even when it's uncomfortable, you still have to do it. Like, hey, I can't do it any other way. We have to grow. And some other ways of growing is through being able to receive and give criticism and being able to handle conflict. So with that, what am I saying? Constructive criticism. Being able to provide constructive criticism where you're telling someone what they did well, but also telling them what they can improve on in a way that's respectful and with empathy.
[00:20:04] What that may look like is, Chanel, you're doing a great job with your assessments, your head to toe assessments, but you can improve on your time management. You're in the room too long, but great job on your head to toe assessment. That's constructive criticism versus criticism. You just take it too long. And then with constructive conflict, conflict is going to happen. Like, we see conflict all the time. And sometimes if you're. You know, for me, I've always been a passive person, but through my personal growth, I have learned that being passive does not help a situation. And it can also make a situation worse because you're not doing anything about it versus if you can address the conflict.
[00:20:46] Conflict, oftentimes from a constructive view viewpoint, that means that you're addressing the conflict in a way that's meant to resolve into a positive outcome. And so this conflict usually usually involves a disagreement. But these disagreements or differing perspectives, they are managed in a way that fosters growth, innovation and a stronger relationship. Instead of being destructive or divisive, it encourages open dialogue, creative thinking and collaboration. And so a good example of constructive conflict. I had a colleague approached me about how I said something to them in front of family in a patient's room. And so when that colleague came to me they said, chanel, when you said this it made me feel like this and you might not have meant it, but I wanted to make sure I said something about it.
[00:21:49] And for me I was like, I am so glad that you said something to me because I definitely did not mean it that way.
[00:21:57] And with that I apologized because that was their perspective. We hugged it out and we are still cool to this day.
[00:22:07] Hope that was a good example. Now wrapping up this episode, I hope that it blessed you in some form or fashion. And as promised, if you are a new nurse or nursing student, you are welcome to join me Nurse Chanel on my weekly meetups. Go to Patreon, look for all one Nurse, sign up as a free member and the details are in the chat. And do we meet every week on Thursday nights at 8pm Central Time and it's only 40 minutes. We get on there, we talk about a win, a barrier and then our topics. We've been going for a good three to four weeks now and some of the things we've talked about is how to prepare for nursing courses like Nursing Fundamentals, Pharmacology, Patho, just some practical steps on how to be successful. And then we recently talked about focus and work life balance and what that may look like as a student or as a new nurse. So you are definitely welcome to tune in or to tell a friend about the all one Nurse weekly meetups.
[00:23:21] You can connect with me on social media, on TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram through all one nurse. Just go key in all one nurse and you should find me on that platform. And another great resource is the Nursing Support page on Facebook. Nursing Support All One Nurse with NurseShanelle the notes from our weekly meetup is on the Nurse Support page on Facebook as well as any helpful resources that I think will benefit my nursing students and my new nurses. Now if you just want to be a part of the All1Nurse community and stay connected, you can go to all1nurse.com and subscribe to the newsletter. Now I promise you I'm not going to load your inbox with a thousand things because I'm just one person in multiple places. I still have my nine to five of course on my own One Nurse website. You can also check out my Resource Hub where I have added different resources for my nurses like how to renew your nurse's license. Some of the different awesome speakers that I have had the opportunity to interview, I've added their resources on my Resource Hub page so feel free to go check that out. Like Sarah Lorenzini, Rapid Response Academy Community Leah Hambrick who, who's the forensic nurse. You know she was a part of the Walking Wise education where they talk about prevention of sex trafficking amongst children and so I've added that resource on my Resource Hub page and if you're interested in becoming a guest speaker then definitely email me at chanelle1nurse if you're interested in being a guest speaker, email me and I'll be sure to reach back out and we'll let God do the rest. Don't forget to leave a positive review. Subscribe to the podcast, share this episode with a friend and until next time, let your light shine. Bye.
