Nursing practice takes many things into consideration: comorbidities, religious beliefs, and culture. I have had the opportunity to work in healthcare for many years, and along the way my path has taken me to over 25 different states and I’ve had the opportunity to serve with international missions’ teams providing various health-related services. A consistent theme throughout these experiences has been the impact of local cultures on the delivery of both compassionate and effective care.
Merriam-Webster defines culture in a few ways including as “the beliefs, customs, arts, etc. of a particular social group, place, or time” as well as “a particular society that has its own characteristic features of everyday existence.” Cultural differences can be seen in the United States and impacts the delivery of healthcare. According to Curcio and colleagues, transcultural nursing, as envisioned by Madeleine Leininger, emphasizes providing healthcare that considers a patient’s cultural beliefs, practices and values. Understanding the influence of culture on an individual’s health practices can help to establish and build relationships for positive health outcomes.
Connections between healthcare providers and patients, as well as families, are essential for effective healthcare delivery. Without this connection, the patients we serve will not fully benefit from the care we provide. When patients and families desire to share their cultures with us, we benefit from the experience and are enriched by learning from them as we share our knowledge. As Osmancevic and colleagues describe, cultural competence serves as an important factor in reducing healthcare disparities and improving patient outcomes.
Understanding the local culture helps to form a solid base from which we can establish relationships and deliver quality care. In smaller tight-knit communities, building relationships may need to be the first step. People need to feel valued and to know that where they come from is considered in the care they receive and how care is delivered. When we meet people where they are, we demonstrate our respect for their values. Developing this mutual respect early in the relationship helps build a foundation for the compassionate care we, as nurses, strive to provide.
While volunteering internationally, I had the opportunity to work closely with communities affected by HIV/AIDS. In many parts of the world, an HIV-positive diagnosis can still result in the community treating the person as an outcast. What stood out to me in both urban and rural settings was that the first question people had wasn’t about treatment, but about why we had chosen to travel so far to provide care. It became clear that they wanted to be recognized as people first before being seen as patients.
Although lines were long, we had the opportunity to get to know individuals, children, and extended families. We built a foundation of trust, which allowed patients to listen to the healthcare education and treatment plans we designed for them. It was eye opening to see how long people would wait for care and how they valued relationship-building as a prerequisite to treatment.
Many nurses already know the importance of building positive connections with patients and families. When we remain open to learning and acknowledging nuances in cultures, we create space to develop a trusting partnership. Validating a patient’s culture and beliefs may be the piece of the healthcare puzzle that is needed for a patient to accept care. By acknowledging these perspectives, we strengthen our relationships and ultimately improve the care experience for everyone involved.
Kristin Wyrwa is a clinical RN at Jefferson Health – Lehigh Valley in Germansville, Pennsylvania.
References
Curcio F, El Khabir H, Chelo G, et al. Transcultural perspectives in nursing: Understanding the role of healers and the evil eye in Modern Healthcare. Nursing Rep. 2024;14(3):2443-55. doi:10.3390/nursrep14030181
Merriam-Webster. Culture. merriam-webster.com/dictionary/culture
Osmancevic S, Großschädl F, Lohrmann C. Cultural competence among nursing students and nurses working in acute care settings: A cross-sectional study. BMC Health Serv Res. 2023;23(1):105.doi:10.1186/s12913-023-09103-5
