Communication and culture in nursing practice (1)
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University of Texas, Tyler *
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HEALTH ASS
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Communications
Date
Feb 20, 2024
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docx
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3
Uploaded by kareyalex
Kweri 1
Interpersonal Communication in Transcultural Nursing Care in India
The purpose of this article was to better understand the significance of intercultural
communications in nursing practice through the experiences of nurses working in Indian
hospitals, providing care to patients from various ethnic backgrounds. The article focused on a case study in India, a country that experiences medical tourism, as
patients from all over the world travel there to seek medical treatments. Twelve nurses (male and
female) aged between twenty to sixty-five years were selected by the study team from two
hospitals with a broad international patient base. Qualifying participants were required to have a
minimum of five months of experience providing care to culturally diverse patients. The authors
issued open-ended questions to the participants through semi-structured interviews.
Participating nurses emphasized the need for diverse linguistic skills in providing optimal
care to culturally diverse patient groups. The study revealed language barriers to be a common
Kweri 2
challenge for nurse practitioners working with many patients from different backgrounds. The
inability of nurses and patients to communicate effectively often affects the quality-of-care
delivery. Patients experienced discomfort, anxiety, and trust issues in being honest with the
nurses about their personal information. Patients' unease would ultimately affect patient
assessment and diagnosis. For this reason, participating nurses underscored the need for
integrating comprehensive linguistic training in nursing programs to adequately prepare them to
meet the needs of culturally diverse patient groups. Study findings identified interpreters as crucial assets in culturally diverse hospital
settings. For the patients, having an interpreter who spoke their language created a safe and
friendly environment for them to freely express their needs without the concern of feeling biased
or misunderstood. Interpreters established trust with the patients, allowing nurses to collect
accurate information and expressions during initial assessments. According to the article, this
minimized misinformation, medical inaccuracies, delayed treatment, and overall jeopardized
patient care. However, there was concern regarding the limited availability and access to
competent nursing interpreters.
The article emphasized the influence of culture on the relationship between nurses and
their patients. Understanding individual patients' cultural preferences promoted the nurses'
capacity to provide patient-centered care and support in healthcare services such as surgeries and
amputations, family planning and childbirth, blood transfusions, and end-of-life care. The article
recommended alternative communication techniques to ease language barriers between nurse
practitioners and patients in culturally diverse settings. These include having literacy materials in
hospital settings printed out in different prominent languages, gestures, facial expressions, and
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