Transcultural Nursing in Australia
Published: 16 October 2016
Published: 16 October 2016
Birthplace of parents, stated responses | Australia | % | 2011 | % |
---|---|---|---|---|
Both parents born overseas | 8,051,196 | 34.4 | 6,876,585 | 32.0 |
Father only born overseas | 1,488,092 | 6.4 | 1,407,270 | 6.5 |
Mother only born overseas | 1,094,591 | 4.7 | 989,219 | 4.6 |
Both parents born in Australia | 11,070,538 | 47.3 | 10,757,087 | 50.0 |
(ABS 2016)
In Australia, 47.3% of people had both parents born in Australia and 34.4% of people had both parents born overseas (ABS 2016).
Furthermore, 17.9% of Australians were born in a non-English speaking country (PHIDU 2016). This multiculturalism has a huge impact on many aspects of society, but especially on the healthcare system.
Transcultural nursing seeks to provide care that acknowledges an individual’s culture, values, beliefs and practices – the crux of which is good communication between the health professional and the patient and their family.
Read: Communication Skills
Health professionals need to deliver culturally-appropriate, culturally-sensitive care; an undertaking that is sometimes difficult due to the cultural and ethnic diversity within our society.
As health professionals living in a multicultural society, it would be unusual for us not to have come across a patient who is culturally and ethnically different from ourselves. Sometimes we can cross the barrier with ease, recognising the core values and beliefs of our patient and working with these.
At other times the barrier is harder, or even impossible, to cross. Communication difficulties arise - even when a translator is available, non-verbal messages may be missed by the patient, or even by the health professional.
Narayanasamy developed the ACCESS model in order to help health professionals bridge the cultural gap and provide acceptable transcultural care:
(2002)
It is always important to remember that just because a person looks different to ourselves, or even identifies with a different culture, they are still an individual. Their values, beliefs and practices may be the same as our own, or completely different. It is up to us to establish these similarities or differences and acknowledge these in the way we treat our patients.
Theories and models are all very well, but putting them into practice can be challenging. How would you respond to the following situations?
Although we, as health professionals, constantly strive to provide sensitive, compassionate care, there is no doubt we may find ourselves in situations that challenge us. Although we don’t need to have a comprehensive understanding of the cultural and ethnic norms of all those who live in our society, we do need to make an effort to communicate with our patients and understand their needs in order to provide appropriate transcultural care.
The following websites provide further reading and resources: Transcultural Nursing and Making Multicultural Australia. If you know of additional resource or services that may help other readers, please leave a note in the comments section below and they will be considered for inclusion in the article above.
Sarah Vogel specialises in producing well researched articles in the field of health and medicine. She has a BHlthSci (MRT), having studied and worked as a Radiation Therapist, as well as being trained as a telephone counsellor. She has written for a variety of online websites and blogs, but particularly enjoys focusing on health education and psychosocial issues. See Educator Profile