Privacy Perceptions in the Care Provided to Immigrants: A Qualitative Study With Nurses

The present study sheds light on the care provided to immigrants by revealing the problems faced by nurses due to the privacy perceptions of such patients.

This qualitative study constituted a sample of 15 nurses who had previously cared for immigrants. Data were collected through semi-structured individual interviews and processed through thematic analysis.

Six sub-themes were identified from the thematic analysis of the interviews: (1) what first comes to mind when thinking of privacy; (2) the difficulties encountered while providing care to immigrants (e.g., cultural factors); (3) the effects of cultural values on the perceptions of privacy held; (4) the differences between immigrants and nurses as to their perceptions of privacy; (5) the difficult situations encountered by nurses when providing care due to the perceptions of privacy held by patients; (6) the solutions perceived as to the problems encountered by nurses due to the perceptions of privacy held by patients.

This study highlights that differences exist between nurses' and immigrant patients' perceptions of privacy. It has been found that immigrants from Eastern cultures associate privacy with bodily privacy, which results in nurses facing difficulties when caring for immigrant patients of the opposite gender.