Cultural safety assessment of an urban Canadian hospital

Canada continues to grow as a multicultural country but the number of people employed in healthcare does not reflect the increasing population diversity. In addition there are no set Canadian standards in providing Culturally Safe health services. Hence, there may be a lack of safe cultural practices when communicating with patients and/or colleagues. The purpose of this survey study was to determine if there is inconsistency between the written and practiced policy on cultural safety in an urban hospital on the west coast of British Columbia. The study examined whether there were any discriminatory practices based on diversity as judged by the recipients of the interactions, patients and staff. The results indicate that discrimination and equality barriers do exist within the hospital even though Canada has equity legislation. The hospital needs to adopt policy changes in practice and establish bench marks to create a more culturally safe environment through programs and services that meet the diverse needs of staff and patients.