Listening to Hispanic mothers: guidelines for teaching

Teaching Hispanic mothers in a culturally sensitive way to care for their children is a challenge to pediatric nurses. Pediatric nurses must be familiar with customs and the folk medicine practiced by Hispanic mothers. It is very important that the pediatric nurse listens to the voices of Hispanic mothers to determine their health practices, and those that may have been used in their children. Familiarity with folk medicine and health practices will facilitate an appropriate treatment plan and will help to determine whether the mothers' practices are dangerous or beneficial for the child. Pediatric nurses should assess for concurrent use of home remedies and conventional medications to determine if there are any known interactive effects. Finally, increasing the number of pediatric nurses who are fluent in Spanish will enable the voices of Hispanic mothers to be better heard, which in turn, will improve the health status of Hispanic children.