Transcultural mental health nursing. 1: Benefits and limitations

Mental health nurses often have to respond to the needs of clients from a diverse cultural background and ethnicity. The cultural needs of mental health clients can be met by transcultural nursing. In this article, the first of two parts, transcultural nursing is explained in terms of its assumptions, benefits and limitations and the emerging literature in this area of mental healthcare practice is highlighted. The second article will review the terms 'race', 'culture' and 'ethnicity' to illustrate their centrality in transcultural care. Following this, some aspects of mental health problems are presented in the context of cultural variation. Finally, the ACCESS model (Narayanasamy, 1998) (Assessment, Communication, Cultural negotiations and compromise, Establishing respect, Sensitivity and Safety) is suggested for use in transcultural care in mental health nursing.