From Cultural Competence to Cultural Respect: A Critical Review of Six Models

Abstract

Despite the development of cultural competence models in response to the increase in cultural diversity in the United States, health disparities based on ethnicity and cross-cultural mismatches in health care practices still exist. This article critically reviews six noteworthy conceptual models of cultural competence and enlists multilayered definitions of culture from cultural anthropology, critical multicultural education, and critical literary theory, as well as critical discourse analytical tools to deconstruct these frameworks. Although these models assist providers to become more culturally sensitive, they can essentialize and oversimplify patients' cultural experience, as well as mask the dynamism and complexities of their communities and power relations. Competence implies that practitioners can master diverse cultural experiences. Building on some of the promising practices of these six models and the practices of cultural humility and relational ethics, processes and practices are proposed for practitioners to reconstruct their ongoing cross-cultural work in nursing. [J Nurs Educ. 2020;59(6):311-318.].