Submit an evidence-based practice paper about cultural competency in mental health nursing. An evidence-based practice paper allows you to explore best practice and help improve client outcomes on a psychiatric unit. Your paper should describe how you, as a nurse, will include – or have included – cultural awareness in a client diagnosed with a mental illness. The person you describe could be someone in your clinical setting, someone you have worked with in the past, or a theoretical client.

Remember that culture can also include gender equality, sexual orientation, and other cultures besides race and religion – including cultures unique to one particular family. Your paper should be at least 3 pages (double-spaced, not including the title or reference pages) in APA Format and include:

• Assessment: Discuss what you would assess in regard to a client’s culture. For example, are there specific dietary requirements? Are schedule changes necessary to avoid conflicts with religious practices? Who is the spokesperson for the family? What would you assess?
• Diagnosis: List any mental health nursing diagnoses this person has or may be at risk for. Include at least one cultural diagnosis.
• Planning: What planning needs to be done to ensure the cultural and emotional safety of the client?
• Implementation: What are interventions that would ensure the safety of your client in regard to culture? Include at least two interventions. For example, if your client has religious beliefs that affect the ability to take medications, what interventions would you create to ensure the client’s safety? What can you do to make sure the client’s cultural needs are met?
• Evaluation: How will you evaluate whether your implementation was effective? Make sure the parameters are objective and measurable.
• In your summary, discuss whether any completed interventions were successful. What could be done differently in the future? If the interventions have not yet been carried out, you might discuss some institutional changes that could be made to ensure cultural safety for all clients in that setting.

Your paper should utilize proper APA guidelines and include at least three scholarly sources to support your paper. A scholarly source is a source that has been peer reviewed and has appropriate authors that are credentialed. For more information on APA, please visit the Online Library.

Submit your completed assignment by following the directions linked below. Please check the Course Calendar for specific due dates.

Save your assignment as a Microsoft Word document. (Mac users, please remember to append the “.docx” extension to the filename.) The name of the file should be your first initial and last name, followed by an underscore and the name of the assignment, and an underscore and the date. An example is shown below:

Jstudent_exampleproblem_101504