Foster cultural responsiveness on your unit

As patient populations become more diverse, the challenge for nurse managers to ensure delivery of individualized, patient-centered care intensifies. Every patient presents with unique healthcare beliefs, values, behaviors, and lived experiences, and their culture shapes and influences health decisions and perceptions of healthcare encounters. Although cultural responsiveness resources and capabilities are influenced by a health organization's leaders and policies, they're directly implemented by nurse managers, nurses, and staff in each patient and family interaction. Equipping your staff with cultural responsiveness knowledge and skills, and helping them to internalize and consistently demonstrate culturally responsive behaviors, will improve patient satisfaction and quality care outcomes on your unit.