Emergency nurses' caring experiences with Mexican American patients

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Healthcare Disparities
• Cultural Competence

Background:

• Healthcare disparities are increasing for the Hispanic population.
• Culturally competent care can help reduce these disparities.
• This study focuses on emergency nurses' experiences with Mexican American patients.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore emergency nurses' experiences when providing care to Mexican American patients.
• To identify challenges and opportunities in delivering culturally competent care in emergency settings.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative study design.
• Interviews conducted with five Caucasian, non-Hispanic emergency nurses.
• Data collected within two weeks of nurses caring for Mexican American patients in a Midwest hospital.

Main Results:

• Key themes identified: language barrier, continuity of care, and limited cultural knowledge.
• The language barrier significantly impacted all aspects of patient care.
• Nurses with even limited Spanish proficiency were better able to establish a nurse-patient relationship.

Conclusions:

• Hospitals must provide 24/7 translation services.
• Emergency nurses require training on Hispanic cultural values and basic Spanish.
• Further research is needed on nurses' Spanish language skills and their effect on the nurse-patient relationship.