The American Academy of Family Physicians website defines cultural competence as: “A set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come together as a system, agency, or among professionals and enable that system , agency or those professionals to work effectively in intercultural situations. The word "culture" is used because it implies the integrated pattern of human thoughts, communications, actions, customs, beliefs, values, and institutions of a racial, ethnic, religious, or social group. The word competence is used because it implies the ability to function effectively. “Campinha-Bacote built a model that describes cultural competence in five different areas: cultural awareness, cultural knowledge, cultural skill, cultural encounter, and cultural desire. When working as a healthcare professional, you must aspire to cultural competence by mastering each of these areas. To begin my journey toward mastering each area of ​​cultural competence, I must first evaluate my standing in each of the five categories. A very important area is cultural awareness. This involves conducting a self-examination of any biases I may have against a certain culture. I am guilty of having such prejudices. Even though I don't have many prejudices, it's important to work through each one and realize that prejudices are not facts. I am a Caucasian woman who grew up in the suburbs of Detroit. I attended a private school from kindergarten through my sophomore year of college. My school wasn't very diverse. Once I started working, I was able to meet other people from different cultures. All my professions were in the suburbs and most of the people were Caucasian. Eastern Michigan University is very diverse. I'm happy to finally experience such an environment. Cultural knowledge occurs when a healthcare professional seeks information regarding different cultures and ethnic groups. They examine the differences that a culture/ethnic group may have regarding the treatment of a disease, health conditions and biological variations. I have yet to do any personal research in this area. I have learned about some of these differences in a few nursing courses over the past year and a half. I know this is a harmful area of ​​nursing, especially since our country has become... middle of paper... people coming from a different culture and I am willing to take care of many more. Reviewing my position in each of the areas of the model, I realize that I still do not meet expectations. I believe I am on the right path to gaining cultural competence. I still need to work on cultural awareness. I need to conduct further self-examination to make sure I understand each of my biases. I need to start doing research to improve my cultural knowledge. My cultural skill needs to improve in appearance to feel more comfortable conducting a cultural assessment. I engage in conversations and friendships with people from other cultures (cultural encounter) and enjoy becoming culturally aware and informed (cultural desire). This guide is very appropriate for the nursing field. I believe I am culturally competent enough to work in a healthcare profession. I will continue to improve in every category. Every day is a new day. I will be exposed to people from different backgrounds. I must be ready and willing to adapt so that each person feels equally comfortable and receives equivalent healthcare. http://www.aafp.org/fpm/20001000/58cult.html#2 October 6, 2004