Providing culturally sensitive care to our patients also requires that nurses assess and recognize our own health care beliefs and know the organizational culture in which we are providing care. Nurses are charged with advocating for patients, regardless of culture, and assisting them through the healthcare system in which they are receiving care. When individuals from differing cultural backgrounds meet, a cultural encounter occurs. It is not easy being sick, especially when the illness is cancer or a chronic disease. Consider this, a culturally diverse individual with his or her own health beliefs and practices seeks the assistance of western medicine for treatment of cancer, a life threatening illness.
All components are present in each cultural group, but can vary in intensity.
Communication refers to the means by which a culture is preserved and passed down from generation to generation. It can consist of verbal, non-verbal, and written communication and is the most important factor in providing culturally sensitive nursing care because it occurs throughout the nursing process. Language is the most noticeable cultural difference. Nurses will typically respond to a patient's inability to communicate verbally by avoiding the patient, speaking loudly or shouting at the patient, focusing on tasks instead of the patient, or even stop talking with the patient. If the nurse and the patient speak different languages, it may be necessary to seek the assistance of a translator.