The Socio-Political And Cultural Context of Nursing Essay

The Socio-Political And Cultural Context of Nursing - Essay Example There are various patterns of knowing in case of nursing practices that address the â€Å"who†, the â€Å"how† and the â€Å"what†. However, it has been understood that the pattern of the socio-political knowing tries to address the â€Å"wherein†. This pattern picks up views of the nurse from the thoughtful nurse-patient relation and tries to position it at the broader context where the nursing takes place. The sociopolitical knowing may be perceived as being understood at two levels. The first level is the sociopolitical context of the persons while the second one is the sociopolitical context of nursing as a profession (Barker, 2009). The term cultural competence can be defined as the capability to understand and respond in an effective manner to the needs such as cultural and linguistic that is brought to the healthcare experience by the health care providers and the organizations (Seright, 2007). Sex can be termed as the various biological and physiol ogical characteristics of male and female whereas the gender can be defined as the socially constructed behaviors, relationships, norms that are considered as appropriate by the society for men and women. The gender inequalities are considered to be a serious issue. The issue is not about the socially constructed differences between men and women. However, it is about that this difference provides rise to discrimination and inequalities. Since both men and women are biologically different, therefore differences in health risk, needs and conditions tend to arise. Social, Political and Cultural Context of Health and Inequalities across a Range of Groups and Contexts It has been found in the history of social work that there have been growing concerns regarding the social inequalities and also upon the focus to diminish systems of oppression. In the case of the British context, the approaches of anti-racist to social work appeared during the year 1980. This was in response to the conce rns over discrimination, inequalities, and injustice in providing the service and delivery along with the racism within the profession itself (Graham & Schiele, 2010). Both the terms oppression and discrimination are grounded on the belief of superiority of one group over the other along with the consequent rights of greater power and opportunity in the society. Oppression can be termed as political, economic and cultural actions and the behaviors that may harm the individuals through exploitation. In nursing, there are various patterns of knowing. However, two more patterns of knowing have also been found and it would be beneficial to include these within the reflection. One of the patterns of knowing is unknowing. Unknowing signifies awareness that the nurse doesn’t understand the patient when they first meet. When the nurse recognizes this unknowing then she tends to remain attentive to the clients’ perspectives. There has been a debate in the nursing literature reg arding the place that sociology occupies in nursing. According to the view of Cooke, nurses tend to have negative attitudes.  Ã‚