Culture shapes nursing practice: Findings from a New Zealand study

Area of Science:

• Nursing Communication
• Cultural Competence in Healthcare
• Parental Experience in Hospitals

Background:

• Hospital environments present unique cultural contexts impacting communication.
• Understanding nurse-parent interaction requires exploring environmental and cultural factors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate nurses' and parents' experiences with communication about parental emotions in a hospital.
• To examine the environmental and cultural influences on this communication.

Main Methods:

• Focused ethnography in a New Zealand children's hospital unit.
• Included 260 hours of participant observation and informal interviews.
• Conducted 20 formal interviews with nurses and parents.

Main Results:

• Nurses function as cultural brokers, connecting the hospital's culture with parents.
• Parents rely on nurses to navigate cultural boundaries within the hospital setting.
• A disconnect was identified between parents' emotional needs and nurses' ability to address them.

Conclusions:

• Hospital context and culture significantly shape nurse-parent communication.
• Nurses require support to effectively act as cultural brokers for parents.
• Acknowledging and meeting diverse parental needs is crucial for unit managers.