Intellectual disability nursing and transcultural care

In today's healthcare environment, nurses are urged to use up-to-date research evidence to ensure better patient outcomes and inform nursing decisions, actions and interactions with patients. Within the practice setting, there is an increasing challenge to provide care to patients from minority ethnic groups. In order to deliver care to different cultural groups, nurses need to recognize and empathize with patients' belief systems, being mindful of their diverse cultural needs. This article presents the concept of transcultural care and identifies issues within intellectual disability nursing through a focus on the components identified by Campinha-Bacote (2002; 2003) and Cortis (2003): cultural awareness, cultural skill, cultural knowledge, cultural encounter and cultural desire. It highlights the issues which are relevant to nursing practice, cultural care and service provision for persons with intellectual disability from ethnic minorities in Ireland.