Transcultural nursing respects the dignity and autonomy of each patient. It involves adapting nursing care to accommodate the patient’s cultural beliefs and practices. Culturally congruent care can improve patient engagement, nurture trusting relationships, reduce healthcare disparities, and improve outcomes.
Transcultural nursing is an approach to individualized patient care that respects and adapts to a patient’s cultural needs. A patient’s culture can significantly impact their perspective on medicine and wellness. Nursing care that considers their values will be better received and can lead to better patient outcomes. As a future nurse, it’s vital for you to keep an open mind about different worldviews and strive to learn from every patient you encounter.
The University of St. Thomas’ Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) program instills the importance of culturally sensitive care in each of our nursing students. While examining topics in holistic nursing practice, our students are encouraged to consider how best to care for their patients’ bodies, minds, and spirits.
What is an ABSN program, and could it be the right choice for you?
Current and prospective nursing students should look at transcultural nursing theory to better understand it and discover a nurse’s role in it. Then, consider the various applications of culturally appropriate nursing care and how nursing students can prepare to deliver it.
Understanding Transcultural Nursing Theory
The concept of transcultural nursing was developed in the 1950s and involves studying cultures to understand the similarities and differences in patients. This nursing approach incorporates a patient’s background and values into communication and care.
Culturally congruent nursing care adapts healthcare to suit the patient. This may mean adjusting to cultural dietary needs, incorporating traditional healing practices, or arranging for spiritual leaders to join the care team.
Cultural competence in nursing relies upon three main strategies:
- Cultural preservation: Patients should be encouraged to continue their cultural beliefs and practices while receiving treatment.
- Cultural accommodation: Nurses and other providers should integrate patients’ cultural practices into their nursing care plan. This may involve combining traditional healing practices with Western medicine.
- Cultural repatterning: Not all cultural practices are conducive to a patient’s health, safety, and welfare. While it’s essential to honor the patient’s values, the patient may need to choose appropriate treatment options that are a better fit for them medically.
The Primary Focus of Transcultural Nursing
Most registered nurses (RNs) share similar job responsibilities, with some differences from one nursing specialty to the next. For example, nurses generally perform patient assessments, administer medications, provide wound care, and deliver patient education.
Nurses who choose to participate in transcultural nursing have obligations that are specific to culturally competent care. These include:
- Understanding how cultural practices and beliefs can influence relationships, attitudes toward healthcare, and parenting practices.
- Identifying the patient’s cultural heritage and beliefs regarding healing and medicine.
- Assessing the patient’s language skills and determining the need for a medical interpreter.
- Inquiring about home remedies the patient may be using.
- Adjusting the nursing care plan to accommodate the patient’s cultural needs.
- Providing extensive education to patients and their families.
- Serving as a liaison between the patient’s culture and the healthcare practice.
- Ensuring that other providers understand the patient’s cultural needs.
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Practical Examples of Transcultural Nursing Applications
There are many examples of culturally competent healthcare delivery to diverse populations that you can learn from. Dietary requirements are significant considerations, particularly for patients requiring meal modifications to manage health conditions like diabetes or heart disease. In some cultures, for example, it may be impolite to eat or drink the first time it’s offered, which can lead to patients receiving poor nutrition while hospitalized.
Other examples of applications of culturally appropriate care include:
- Using herbal poultices for pain relief in addition to physical therapy and medication.
- Adjusting hospice care to suit cultural attitudes toward aging and death.
- Using culturally sourced relaxation techniques, like chanting or meditation, to teach behavioral health patients about coping skills.
Where Might Transcultural Nurses Work?
Nurses work in various settings, including hospitals, clinics, specialty offices, and public health organizations. Culturally appropriate care is needed in every nursing specialty. Some nurses might decide to serve global populations in international aid organizations, such as the Red Cross or Doctors Without Borders.
Why Culturally Congruent Care Matters in Nursing
All patients deserve to receive nursing care that is free of implicit biases and serves their best interests and health. Nurses who engage in comparative cultural study, a key aspect of transcultural nursing, will be better informed. Nurses should provide care that aligns with each patient’s cultural values, promoting dignity, trust, and improved outcomes.
How to Prepare for a Career in Transcultural Nursing
Every nursing career begins with a nursing degree program, such as UST’s ABSN program. Here, it’s possible to graduate in as few as 12 months if you have a non-nursing bachelor’s degree or at least 60 non-nursing college credits. Then, you’ll need to pass the NCLEX-RN to obtain your RN license.
It can be difficult to develop a comprehensive understanding of the cultural beliefs and practices of all the populations you work with as a nurse. Commit to lifelong learning and taking the time to research the patient populations you most often serve in your area. Learn from your fellow nurses and respectfully ask your patients to educate you about their cultural beliefs and attitudes toward healthcare.
After gaining clinical experience, you may wish to formalize your commitment to transcultural nursing. The Transcultural Nursing Society (TCNS) offers two certification options. Obtaining professional certification can help shape your nursing career.
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Pursue Your Future in Nursing at UST
University of St. Thomas prepares students to provide compassionate and inclusive nursing care and to lead with integrity amid healthcare challenges. As a Catholic university, we emphasize nurturing the patient’s whole health in body, mind, and spirit, and honoring the dignity of the human person through our attention to the patient’s needs. Our nursing students become equipped to deliver culturally appropriate nursing care to diverse populations, elevating the goal of caring for the human family.
With UST’s ABSN program, you could earn your BSN in as few as 12 months and be ready to tackle the NCLEX-RN. Furthermore, with three enrollment locations in Houston to choose from, three start dates throughout the year, and no waitlist, you can get started sooner.
Contact an admissions advisor today to find out if you are eligible to apply to our ABSN program.