Nurses strive to be competent and recognize their limitations. Nurses' work is with humans and includes the role of raising consciousness about the sacredness of human beings. Helping people to make healthy choices requires knowledge, integrity, and accountability. Nurses are responsible for their actions and put the patient, family, or community first. Ethical and moral principles are used in respecting the autonomy of persons.
Cultural competence is a core element of nursing.
Caring by the nurse is transcultural. Cultural competence and scientific competence are not hierarchical, but integrated in nursing action. Nurses have a special accountability to transcend ethnocentrism. A nurse cannot be effective if he or she is confined in the narrowness of one's own culture. The knowledge base of nursing is meaningful to the patient and the patient's needs and to the needs of the family and community.