Culturally competent care Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Culturally competent care - Essay ExampleThis means that the department of veteran affairs is forced to meet with the needs of many an(prenominal) passs over a prolonged time period- something which has forced it to expand in order to cater for the needs of various ex-soldiers from different ethnic backgrounds. There is a reason why army veterans require specialized care. Military service members do not face the same challenges as other members of the society. Their very communication channel requires them to put their lives in danger constantly whenever the country is engaged in a conflict with a different nation. Many times, the challenges that soldiers face are severe and require immediate specialized care. Some of these injuries include gunshot wounds, lost limbs, wounds caused by shrapnel and head injuries that affect a soldiers daily functions or even speech and thought patterns. Military service members may to a fault be exposed to environmental pollutants like harmful chem icals used by the opponent army, contaminated water and biological weapons. There are also the mental stresses of being in a fight. Being separated from ones family and friends for an protracted period of time is a difficult thing for any ordinary human being. It becomes harder for both the soldier and his or her family when both parties are aware that the soldier might never return home. Many times, the families of soldiers have sought counseling services to help them to cope with such possibilities. Another cause of mental curse is the act of war. Killing and maiming other human beings is a difficult undertaking for even the most hard-hearted individual. Soldiers are required to do it repeatedly and automatically when reproducible to do so by their commanding officers. They are also expected to ignore their fears and constantly put themselves in the way of danger. This causes mental problems such as post traumatic stress disorder and depression- which are conditions that the s oldiers carry home with them even after the war is over (Jakupcak, Luterek, Hunt, Conbeare and McFall, 2008). According to (Erbes, Westermeyer, Engdahl and Johnsen (2007), more than ten war veterans commit suicide every day due to their inability to handle mental states of depressions and post traumatic stress disorder. There have also lately been reports of war veterans who took their own lives after eliminating their whole families. When they return from war situations, soldiers require healthcare benefits that will enable them to live with some measure of peace and comfort. They also usually require a lot of mental support so that they can process through the horrifying things that they may have witnessed during the war. The department of veterinary surgeon Affairs has successfully established a 24-hour suicide hot-line that helps soldiers to deal with issues they may be experiencing but feel unable to tell even family members. Standards of cultural competency that appear to be met and any that are not met The Department of Veteran Affairs defines minority veterans as ex-soldiers who are of Asian American, African Americans, Pacific Islander, inseparable American, Hispanic, Native Hawaiian, or Alaska Native origin. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), roughly 20% of the countrys 23.5 million veterans are from these ethnic backgrounds (National Alliance on Mental Illness, 2013). Similar to other racial minority populations