science

Purnell Model for Cultural Competence

Purnell Model for Cultural Competence is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Purnell Model for Cultural Competence rather than just read about it. In short: The Purnell Model for Cultural Competence is a broadly utilized model for teaching and studying intercultural competence, especially within the nursing profession. Employing a method of the model incorporates ideas about cultures, persons, healthcare and health professional into a distinct and extensive evaluation instrument used to establish and evaluate cultural competence in healthcare.

Key takeaways

Purnell Model for Cultural Competence belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Purnell Model for Cultural Competence to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Purnell Model for Cultural Competence from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Purnell Model for Cultural Competence is a broadly utilized model for teaching and studying intercultural competence, especially within the nursing profession. Employing a method of the model incorporates ideas about cultures, persons, healthcare and health professional into a distinct and extensive evaluation instrument used to establish and evaluate cultural competence in healthcare. Although the Purnell Model was originally created for nursing students, the model can be applied in learning/teaching, management, study and practice settings, within a range of nations and cultures.

History and description The Purnell Model for Cultural Competence was developed by Larry D. Purnell and Betty J. Paulanka, as an outline to classify and arrange elements that have an effect on the culture of an individual. The framework uses an ethnographic method to encourage cultural awareness and appreciation in relation to healthcare. It offers a basis for individuals providing care to gain knowledge around concepts and features that relate to various cultures in anticipation of assisting the performance of culturally competent care in clinical settings. The model has been recognised as a way to integrate transcultural proficiency into the execution of nursing and in “primary, secondary and tertiary” environments. Cultural competence has been described as a process, which is constantly occurring and through which one slowly advances from lacking knowledge to developing it. An individual begins as unconsciously unskilled due to their absence of personal knowledge that they are lacking awareness about other cultures. Next, an individual becomes aware of their incompetence due to their acknowledgement that they have insufficient comprehension of other cultures. Individuals then become deliberately competent (through learning about others’ cultures) so that they are able to apply personalised interventions. Finally, individuals gradually become oblivious to their competence due to their ability to instinctively provide patients with culturally competent care. In multicultural societies, it is becoming essential for healthcare professionals to be able to provide culturally competent care due to the results of enhanced personal health, as well as the health of the overall population. The greater the overall knowledge a health practitioner has about cultures, the better their ability is to conduct evaluations and in turn provide culturally competent suggestions to patients. Purnell's model requires the caregiver to contemplate the distinct identities of each patient and their views towards their treatment and care.

The Purnell Model

Purnell and Paulanka proposed this model including four circles of varying sizes that are representative of the metaparadigms that are applied to nursing, as well as a twelve-part inner circle that illustrates the various “cultural domains”.

Metaparadigm ideas (outer circles) The outer circles of the model are interconnected metaparadigm ideas that relate to nursing, and are involved within the process of providing an individual with care. The outermost (first) circle is used to represent the global society, the second circle represents the concept of community, the third of family, and the innermost (fourth) circle illustrates the individual person.

Global society Global society relates to observing the world as an interconnected whole that consists of a range of individuals from various cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Concepts that are present and influence this unified world include globalisation forces and the rapid growth of communication technologies that impact upon how the global society is maintained. It is critical to consider a person's place within the diverse world community as influencing forces on the global society can impact not only the civilisation, but also an individual's world outlook.

Community

Community is included in the model, as a metaparadigm, as in the provision of culturally competent care; an individual's situation within a community must be addressed. Through considering a patient's sense of community, care providers acknowledge that different communities may have divergent values, ethics and goals.

Family An individual's relationship with their family is essential to consider in the deliverance of care. This is because each individual may want to differently consider/explain who constitutes family, and additionally the degree to which they want family members to be involved in their care may fluctuate.

Person Persons must be considered in the performance of culturally competent care, as each individual has their own sense of self, values, beliefs and ideas. Due to every person having their own distinct way of relating to their environment, forming social relationships and communicating with others in their community and broader society. Individual's beliefs and values may impact upon how they wish to be treated.

The domains (inner circle)

The twelve inner pieces of the model are cultural domains that are composed of concepts that should be focused upon when evaluating patients. Each of the twelve domains should not be viewed as separate or diverse entities, instead it should recognised that they can influence and inform each other and hence should be viewed as unified parts of a whole.

Overview/heritage This domain refers to concepts such as one's origin that are vital in the aptitude of an individual in understanding both themselves and their patients.

Communication This construct relates to the interactions an individual has been exposed to throughout their life and socialisation process, for example with family, peers and the wider community. It also conveys the importance of an individual's ability to provide verbal cues such as volume/tone and non-verbal cues such as body language and eye contact.

Family roles and organization This domain refers to hierarchies and structures existent within families that may be dependent on gender or age, which have the ability to influence not only family interactions but also the way in which an individual both communicates and acts.

Workforce issues

Workforce issues denotes the way in which aspects present within a workplace such as language barriers, may have an effect on an individual and their sense of being and belonging.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Purnell Model for Cultural Competence

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Purnell Model for Cultural Competence claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Purnell Model for Cultural Competence before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Purnell Model for Cultural Competence ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Purnell Model for Cultural Competence

In research: Purnell Model for Cultural Competence appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Purnell Model for Cultural Competence in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Purnell Model for Cultural Competence is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Cultural competence, Systems theory, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Purnell Model for Cultural Competence outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Purnell Model for Cultural Competence” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Purnell Model for Cultural Competence in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Purnell Model for Cultural Competence means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Purnell Model for Cultural Competence out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Purnell Model for Cultural Competence in simple terms?

Why does Purnell Model for Cultural Competence matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Purnell Model for Cultural Competence?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Purnell Model for Cultural Competence.