Culturally Congruent Care in the NICU: Exploring the Needs of a Mexican Family Their Infant Son

Migrant and minority family members in the intensive care unit. A review of the literature

“…Cultural humility involves developing authentic respect towards patient diversity and developing a broader definition of the concept of culture [37]. By engaging in social nonfocused conversation with the family, the nurse can develop a rapport, gain trust, and indirectly investigate family dynamics [8]. Some cultures have gender preference and are concerned with modesty [22].…”

“…Through cultural care repatterning and restructuring efforts were made to find a system that would be optimal for patient outcome yet considerate to cultural values. In another study, a nurse used Leininger’s theory [28] to provide culturally competent care for a family of Mexican immigrants with a critically ill infant [8]. Høye and Severinsson [23] describe a conflict between nurses and the family over the desire of the family to participate in patient bathing.…”

“…Many non-Western cultures do not view the patient as an autonomous entity, but rather as part of a family network [10]. Whereas nurses in Western cultures feel a moral obligation to disclose all information to the patient and respect the patients’ autonomous decisions as priority, many cultures function under a very different hierarchy [8]. Decisions are made by the group.…”

“…Matriarchs or elder males in the group are culturally more likely to be the decision makers [8]. In some cultures, as a part of the focus on the group rather than the individual, the family will decide to keep the “truth” from the patient, withholding important diagnostic data and making stratified decisions without the knowledge of the patient [10].…”