Culturally Competent Care for Diverse Populations

Abstract

Transcultural nursing is a discipline that emphasizes culturally competent care for diverse populations, recognizing the influence of culture on health beliefs, values, practices, and outcomes. It requires nurses to respect cultural differences and similarities, but faces challenges in curriculum design, faculty development, and student assessment. This paper explores transcultural nursing education’s current state and future directions, addressing the American Association of Colleges of Nursing essentials for integrating cultural content into nursing curricula, reviewing Madeleine Leininger’s transcultural nursing theory, diversity, equity, and inclusion concepts, and discussing the main challenges of transcultural nursing education, including lack of student diversity, training, and resources. Strategies to overcome these challenges include interprofessional collaboration, cultural immersion, and evidence-based practice. The paper concludes with how emergency department nurses should incorporate this into practice.