Cross Cultural Communication In Nursing

Communication is an extremely important part of nursing practice, for without it, proper care cannot be given to the patient (Fakhr-Movahedi, Salsali, Negharandeh, & Rahnavard, 2011). Communication allows nurses to deliver information to the patient and their families as well as reduce anxiety and offer emotional support (Fakhr-Movahedi et al., 2011). No conversation happens in a vacuum, therefore the broader context is always necessary to consider, especially when developing the nurse-patient relationship (Fakhr-Movahedi et al., 2011). Although many factors influence communication, culture is a large and important one (Fakhr-Movahedi et al., 2011). It is essential for nurses to be able to communicate with patients from all different cultural

Even if a nurse had the opportunity to study abroad and was able to increase their cultural competencies, the language barrier still has a large effect on the care the nurse is able to provide (Jirwe, Gerrish, & Emami, 2010). When a language barrier is present, often the information that is given over to the patient is lacking, leading to poor health care quality for an already vulnerable patient (Jirwe et al, 2010). Although interpreters are an option, they are not always available and may only interpret select information; not relating exactly what the health care provider says (Jirwe et al., 2010). They may prevent some patient related questions from being asked to the health care provider as well as not delivering all medical and non-medical related information to the patient. This selective type of communication prevents proper care from being delivered (Gavioli & Baraldi, 2011). When nurses were able to communicate in a limited way, they felt as though only the technical bits of information were conveyed, such as the mechanics of a procedure, rather than the reason behind it (Jirwe et al., 2010). This barrier to communication led the nurses to feel as though the care they provided was impersonal and the patient had difficulty adequately expressing their

Care is not only about skill and technique, but takes on a holistic nature. It is about caring for each patient individually and taking into consideration their cultural needs and beliefs in order to provide the best possible care. This requires nurses to be culturally competent and self aware in order so they can be sensitive to their patients and provide effective communication and care. Nurses draw on previous experience to help develop this competency and therefore participating in an abroad study program can help to develop this. Another suggestion is to have a staff that accurately reflects the diverse population so that when a patient comes in there may be a staff member who can relate and converse with them with ease. This can greatly reduce anxiety in an already anxious patient as well as ensuring that high quality care is being provided. As the population becomes increasingly more diverse, the issue of transcultural communication may always be a barrier in healthcare, but there are steps that all nurses can take to help make it a more caring and comfortable environment. It does require nurses to become more educated as well as more self aware of themselves and their ethnocentrism, but that bit of effort on the part of the nurse before entering the workforce can greatly impact the quality of care that gets