Culturally Sensitive Nursing Care

What is meant by culturally sensitive nursing care? How does it apply to nursing? In order to understand culturally sensitive nursing care you must first understand culture and cultural diversity. Culture guides our thinking, doing and being, and becomes patterned expressions of who we are (Basic Nursing, 2003). Cultural diversity is the difference between people rooted in a shared belief and value system based on norms, customs and way of life. Knowledge of cultural diversity is …

…universal conditions experienced uniquely by each individual (Transcultural Nursing, 1989). No matter what race, ethnicity, or culture that the patient practices, they all have the right to acquire culturally competent nursing care. Recognizing cultural diversity, integrating cultural knowledge and acting in an appropriate manner enables nurses to be more effective in assessing and saving the client’s life. Nurses who are culturally diverse understand that there are many forms of knowledge and different ways of knowing.