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Importance of Transcultural Nursing

Nicole P. Villanueva

College of Nursing

Dr. Verminia Aurora A. Basilio RN, MAN, Ph.D.

September 25, 2021

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1. Identify and discuss the 8 reasons why Transcultural nursing is a necessary specialty,

according to Madeleine Leininger.

There are eight reasons for transcultural nursing being a necessary specialty according to

Madeleine Leininger, who is a nursing theorist who developed the Transcultural Nursing Theory

which focuses on the nursing care that have beneficial meaning and health outcomes for people

of different and similar cultural backgrounds. These eight reasons are used to address the

challenges and issues faced in the healthcare setting that are all relevant in today’s society. The

first reason is the significantly increased number of migrating people within and between

countries worldwide. As it continues to increase, transcultural nursing is needed because of the

growing diversity that characterizes national and global population. United States is known for

having different cultures, religious beliefs, practices and values because there are different races

reside there. According to Gallardo and Batalova (2020) during the year of 2018, around two

million Filipinos lived in the United States accounting for 4.5% of the country’s immigrants.

And 14.1 million immigrants from Asia are residing in the United States during the year of 2019.

It is important to remember that each person in United States is distinct from one another. The

second reason is the continuous surge in cultural identities with people who are expecting the

nurses and other healthcare professional to understanding and respect their cultural beliefs,

values and lifeways. Transcultural nursing contributes to this second reason because it is

important for the nurse to be aware of other cultural beliefs exist and they should be more

mindful to avoid offending patients coming from different culture and religion. The third reason

is the increase use of healthcare technology that can sometimes create conflicts with the cultural

values and practices of patients receiving care. There are instances that a certain culture might

not allow the use of technologies in proving health treatments, therefore it is important to
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recognize the different practices and technology and how it can be used in terms of treatment

without disrespecting cultural practices. The fourth reason is the cultural conflicts, clashes and

violence worldwide affected the healthcare setting because there are more cultural groups that

interact with one another. Different point views in values, religion, beliefs and practices can

cause misunderstanding that can lead to disagreement and conflict that can influence health care

and the treatment outcome. The fifth reason is the increase in the number of people traveling and

choosing to work in different parts of the world. As I have mentioned before, there are a lot of

people moving to the United States and mostly their reason is better job opportunity and also

better healthcare system. According to Philippine Statistics Authority (2020), estimated of 2.2

million are working abroad during the year of 2019 from the month of April to September. The

sixth reason is the increase in legal suits that is a result of cultural conflict, negligence, ignorance

and imposition of healthcare practices. When the patient’s own culture and values are

disregarded by healthcare professionals it leads to conflict and seeking for legal action because

the healthcare provider failed to take into consideration the cultural background and practices of

the patient, they were supposed to provide care. The seventh reason is the rise in awareness of

gender issues and feminism with growing demands on healthcare system to meet the gender and

age specific needs of men, women and children. It is to provide equality and diversity care,

nurses should ensure to meet the diverse needs of patients and that they have equal health

services regardless of their culture, religion, gender, race and social standing. Lastly, the last

reason is the increased demand for community and culturally based healthcare services in diverse

environmental contexts. It is important to remember that in providing culturally sensitive care,

the nurse is not only caring for the patient’s physical well being but their overall wellbeing.

Being culturally knowledgeable and diverse help in knowing how to properly care for a
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culturally diverse individual to be able to put into consideration their cultural beliefs and

practices to avoid disrespecting them.

2. In your own words, describe the meaning of cultural diversity. Then relate its relationship

to the field of nursing.

McGrath, Berdahl and Arrow (1995) defined cultural diversity as a group of characteristics

with two or more people. It refers to the demographic differences which can distinguish one from

another within the group. The characteristics includes are skin color, gender, language,

nationality, religion, culture, sexual orientation and ethnicity. The characteristics in cultural

diversity can be personal, it can be either changeable or not. Characteristics that can be changed

and can be acquired or modified are sexual orientation, parental status, education and religion.

Personal characteristics that cannot be changed are race, gender, and age. Cultural diversity is

recognizing and respecting the presence of all diverse groups, values and acknowledges the

socio-cultural differences each culture or person have. It also encourages and aids in continuing

contribution within the culture and results to empowering the group or society. According to

American Nurses Association (ANA) in nursing there is diversity awareness and defined as the

“acknowledgement and appreciation of the differences in attitudes, beliefs, thoughts and

priorities in health-seeking behaviors of different patient population”. This reflects to the

responsibility of nurses which is acting according to a strong code of ethics, by being aware to

our own culture and believes while providing effective care to individuals and communities.

Ethical decisions are part of the everyday life of a nurse and integrating cultural diversity into the

decision-making process can result to a positive nurse-patient relationship and better health

outcomes. In nursing practice cultural diversity is embedded in the relationship and rapport we

build with our patients, other healthcare professionals and with the society. It plays a continuous
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important role in nursing practice as we all move into a more diversified world, where there is

constant change and transformation not only in the field of medicine and nursing but also in

cultures. Patients’ different cultural backgrounds and experiences influence on how they

understand their own health, their relationship with the healthcare providers and medical

treatments. It is essential in our practice as it provides opportunities to provide quality care to

patients. But in order to provide quality care, a nurse should be culturally diverse to be able to

understand, respect and be open to the idea that other cultures exist. Effective and culturally

aware communication can help bridge the divide between the culture of medicine and the beliefs

and practices of the patient. Diversity and inclusion of patients to their plan of care is a

combination that allows different cultures, believes and practices bring greater collaboration

between the patient and nurses which lead to better patient care and satisfaction.

One of the skills of a culturally diverse nurse is being able to put aside own culture and

believe but it can also be able to put the patient at ease because the patient feels they were

respected and was able to relate to the nurse as they speak the same language, share the same

religion or the nurse provided an interpreter to help the client understand, respected the patient’s

religion practices. Being a culturally diverse nurse also helps in addressing health inequalities

and deliver effective, culturally informed care to all patients regardless of their status and

believes. Nurses should be able to understand and be able to accommodate the patients’ cultural

beliefs and practices in accordance to the medical treatment. According to AACN,

acknowledgement of different types of patient differences decreases the patients’ stress and

results to a positive impact to the outcome of their health treatment. This is supported by an NIH

study that concluded, nurses who are not culturally diverse tend to be more stressed and

frustrated when working with culturally diverse patients and their families. In order to be
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culturally diverse nurse and prepared with situations that involve differences, nurses follow a

cultural competence model and they also practice cultural competency or cultural awareness and

sensitivity which led to reducing medical errors and better health outcomes.

3. In your own words, explain three ways that you can provide culturally sensitive care to

your patients.

Based on an article published by Health & Social Work, cultural sensitivity can be defined as

being sensitive to the community members’ values and perceptions about healthcare that differ

from their own. Culturally sensitive care is the ability to provide appropriate response to the

attitudes, feelings or circumstances of groups of people or patients that share common and

distinctive cultural heritage. As the diversity in healthcare increases it brings opportunities and

challenges to deliver effective culturally competent sensitive care. Being able to provide

culturally sensitive care is an integral component of patient centered-care. to enhance their

abilities nurses, strive in reflecting on how their own and the patient’s culture, values and beliefs

will differ and its impact to the nurse-patient relationship. In order to be culturally sensitive, the

nurse must understand how the bio-psychosocial needs and cultural background relate to the

patient’s health care needs.

The three ways to provide culturally sensitive care to patients contribute to nurses when they

empathize, understand and attend more deeply to their patients’ needs. These three ways consists

of awareness of one’s cultural worldview, attitudes toward cultural differences, and knowledge

of different cultural practices together with cross-cultural skills. When these three ways are

combined together when giving care it will not only be about tolerating another’s culture and

practice but it also aims to bridge gaps and provide personalized collaborative care. Awareness

of one’s cultural view is identifying the nurse own beliefs and culture before caring for others.
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Cultural awareness can be done by self-examination and exploration of one’s cultural

background and healthcare beliefs and values. According to Culture Advantage, nurses or

caregivers should be aware of their own cultural view to be able to control their personal biases

that can interfere with the therapeutic relationship they have with their patients. Their attitudes

toward cultural differences means the nurse must appear to be open, receptive and interested in

the patient. Attitude also comes with acceptance as it is a powerful tool in healing because it

promotes hope, wellbeing and have the patient in a satisfying state of health which is not only

depending to the absence of disease. Acceptance coming from the nurse helps the patient to

notice the patterns that contribute to their health progress which result to choosing

transformational behaviors with the continuing support and acceptance from the nurse.

Knowledge of different cultures is seeking and obtaining cultural and ethnic groups to be able to

understand it. Learning about other cultures avoids stereotyping them, because each individual or

cultural group are distinct from one another. Being a culturally knowledgeable nurse result to

having motivation to become culturally aware and to seek cross-cultural interactions. Having this

desire or motivation will lead to developing cross cultural skill or the ability to collect relevant

cultural data that can help in specific situations with culturally diverse patients. Cross cultural

skill of a nurse will lead to an on-going process of being directly engage in cross cultural

interactions to develop cultural competence. To ensure patients receive culturally sensitive care,

nurses must be aware of their own prejudices and biases and exert effort in educating themselves

about the beliefs, practices and perceptions of diverse patients.

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References:

Advent Health. (2020). What Does Diversity Mean in Nursing?. AHU Online. Retrieved from

https://online.ahu.edu/blog/what-does-diversity-mean-in-nursing/

Advent Health. (2020). Guide to Cultural Sensitivity in Nursing. AHU Online. Retrieved from

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Bettencourt, E. (2016). Why Is Diversity In Nursing So Important?. DiversityNursing Blog.

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Deering, M. (2021). Cultural Competence in Nursing. NurseJournal. Retrieved from

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Gallardo, LH. & Batalova, J. (2020). Filipino Immigrants in the United States. The Online

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https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/immigrants-asia-united-states-2020

Mapa, CD. (2020). Total Number of OFWs Estimated at 2.2 Million. Philippine Statistics

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Regis College. (n.d.). Understanding the True Importance of Cultural Diversity in Nursing.

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