Cultural Competence in Nursing

“The capacity to interact compassionately, effectively, and sensitively with people of different cultures.” —Book: Culturally Proficient Inquiry: A Lens for Identifying and Examining Education Gaps

Cultural competence is expressed in ways that look at diverse values, opinions, and attitudes of people. Not only this, but their behavior, social status, customs, language, gender, spirituality, and so on.

Nurses and similar professions deal with understanding these factors of diverse cultural people. If you are a nurse working in a hospital, clinic, or for the private sector, you must possess the ability to understand others’ perspectives. In addition, it helps nurses to perform better and succeed in their careers.

Cultural competence has grown in the industry in the last few years. Considering inclusivity, healthcare experts must prioritize this important skill.

What is Cultural Competence in Nursing?

Cultural competence in nursing means being aware of and respectful toward the different cultural backgrounds, beliefs, and values of patients.

My experience: Every time I visit hospitals or clinics, I observe a certain way in which nurses treat patients of different ethnicities and cultures. In addition, it breaks my heart and forces me to think of this important skill in their profession.

Patients must be treated equally despite of their differences. Period!

Nurses with cultural competence understand that people may have unique ways of thinking about health. In addition, illness and medical treatment are based on their culture, religion, or language.

Hence, the sense of diversity in nursing practice improves the communication between the patient and the nurse. Also, provides care that respects their cultural needs and avoids misunderstandings.

Cultural competence is important in today’s diverse world. Why? Because it helps ensure that all patients feel valued and understood, no matter where they come from.

Components of Cultural Competence in Nursing

Culturally competent care means providing health care that fits the cultural needs of a patient.

It’s not just about treating patients for their illness, but also about understanding their cultures. But why? And how?

Here are the best practices for nursing cultural competence that every nurse must know and follow:

Awareness

Self-awareness is the foundation of all awareness.

Well, this means that a nurse must be aware of their hidden or conscious bias. In addition, when they understand their own belief and biases, it helps them avoid judging patients from different cultures.

For example, a nurse notices that when a patient with having strong accent comes in, he/she (the nurse) assumes that the patient won’t understand the medical terms. Hence, considering this, nurses figure out that they have implicit bias related to language or culture.

Hence, nursing education and cultural awareness in this profession play a great role.

Attitude

And once a nurse identifies their bias, they can start to look at why they feel or think that way.

In the earlier example, where a nurse identifies language/culture bias, they must ask themselves:

1. Where did this belief come from?
2. How does it impact the way I treat my patients?
3. How can I change it to be fair?

Without any second thought, the importance of nursing cultural competence in nursing practice cannot be ignored.

Knowledge

Nursing is more than medical care—it’s about understanding the whole person, including their culture and mindset.

Well, that’s right. To effectively treat patients who come to you, it’s vital to know “them”.

Them: Their culture, language, festivals, health, illness, and so on.

Moreover, nurses should know how these factors influence in treatment of their patients. In addition, it also includes both local and traditional healthcare systems that might be important to those communities.

Skills

The cultural competence components are not just to learn or understand. Instead, a nurse has to practice it regularly, and it must be integrated cultural competence into nursing programs.

So, skill is just the combination of awareness, knowledge, and attitude, and working on it daily.

How to Improve Cultural Competence for Nurses

So, if you are a nurse or a student, it’s clear to you now that the four components discussed above are vital to work in this profession. And one must know how to develop cultural sensitivity as a nursing student.

But, here’s a question: How to improve cultural sensitivity in nursing and work on these factors to treat patients more efficiently?

If you are wondering the same thing, here are a few steps to know:

Respect Cultural Perspectives

Cultural competence in nursing is about understanding that people from different cultures see and experience things differently.

Let’s understand this with the examples of cultural competence in nursing care: The Americans are okay to be called by their first names by nurses in a friendly tone. However, in some cultures (Middle Eastern and Asian countries), people prefer to be addressed with respect, especially for adults. For example, Mr./Mrs. along with their first names.

But you are not there to sit and guess who would prefer what, right? Therefore, it’s suggested to ask patients how they want to be addressed.

Communicate, Share, Exchange!

Do you know how you can just connect with somebody within the snap of a finger? Yes, by communicating and sharing/exchanging information.

You might have to treat a particular patient once in a lifetime, or one can be your regular patient. Well, in both cases, you must have a strong bond with them to make them feel comfortable.

For example, if your patient shares something like: “I love drinking sweetened tea and beverages, it literally makes me happy and feel good.”

Now, your professional side would be annoyed after hearing this. However, despite telling them not to drink them. Share a similar story of your culture. In addition, you may tell about the cultural drink that you have been drinking since childhood. But later, swapped it with healthy herbal teas infused with fruity flavors.

Learn New Languages

Language barrier has been a major problem in the healthcare sector. When patients and healthcare providers don’t speak the same language well, it can cause misunderstandings, which may lead to poorer health outcomes and frustration for both sides.

Also, only trained and expert medical officers have to handle official translations during medical appointments. However, it’s still good for nurses to at least know the common medical terms in various languages. In addition, they can easily talk with each other and create a comfortable space.

Completing Continuing Nursing Education (CNE)

Culturally competent care in nursing education helps nurses to keep learning, updating their knowledge, and skills throughout their careers. In healthcare, things are always changing. New treatments, updated guidelines, and different patient needs, and whatnot. Therefore, teaching diversity in nursing school is important.

There are many institutes offering cultural awareness training for nursing students, some of them include:

• Think Culture Health: This is a free course offered by the Health of Minorities. In addition, it is an online course that can facilitate nurses to improve these important skills.
• The National LGTB National Network: They offer cultural competence programs for oncology professionals.
• Georgetown University’s National Center: They offer online cultural competence courses for specific individuals.

Official Steps Taken To Improve Cultural Competence

Considering the fact that every human should get healthcare benefits equally, some official steps were taken in the 1980s:

• The report on Black and Minority Health (also called the Heckler Report) was released in 1985 to eliminate health disparities.
• To implement the Heckler Report, the federal Office of Minority Health was established in 1986.
• The Healthy People 2010, an agenda to eliminate health disparities, was released in 2000 with some updates.
• LEP Guidance is designed to work with people with less English language proficiency.
• CLAS in Nursing was launched in 2024 to help nurses improve the quality of care they offer to patients.

Real-Life Scenarios That Show the Need

Here are a few everyday examples:

• A Muslim woman walks into a clinic. The male nurse goes to shake her hand.  But she steps back, not out of rudeness, but because of her religious beliefs. Hence, if the nurse had known this cultural norm, a verbal greeting would have been more appropriate.

• An elderly Latino patient keeps nodding “yes” during instructions. The nurse assumes everything’s clear. But in some Latino cultures, nodding is just polite and not an agreement.

Small misunderstandings like these can lead to big problems. That’s why cultural competence is vital.

Conclusion

Let’s wrap it up with this thought: Cultural competence is not about being perfect. It’s about being open. It’s about learning every day and treating people with the kindness and respect they deserve.

Whether you’re a nurse, a student, or someone curious about this field—remember:

Every patient is unique, every culture has value, and every act of empathy matters.

So start small: ask questions, listen without judgment, and keep learning. When nurses care with cultural awareness, they don’t just heal bodies—they heal hearts.

FAQs

What are the three main cultural competence barriers in nursing?

The first cultural competence barrier in nursing is a lack of diversity in healthcare leadership, a lack of understanding of the importance of CC, and a lack of inclusivity.

What are the main cultural components in nursing?

The main cultural components in nursing are awareness, skills, knowledge, and skill. These factors are important to offer culturally sensitive and component care.

What is cultural desire in nursing?

Cultural desire is seen as the motivation for nurses. They are never exhausted by the diversity and are motivated to take new challenges.

What are the benefits of culturally competent care in nursing?

Culturally competent care in nursing eliminates health disparities, improves patient outcomes, and satisfaction. In addition, it improves communication between a patient and a nurse and creates a comfortable space.