Communicating with culturally and linguistically diverse patients in acute care setting : nurses' experiences

Communication with culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) patients has been shown to be difficult. This study describes nursesââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ experiences of communicating with CLD patients in an acute care setting. A purposive sample of registered nurses and certified midwives (n=23) were interviewed. Main findings were: interpreters, bilingual health workers and combinations of different strategies were used to communicate with CLD patients; some nurses showed empathy, respect and a willingness to make an effort in the communication process with others showing an ethno-centric orientation. Main recommendations were: prioritising access to appropriate linguistic services, providing nurses with support from health care workers, e.g., bilingual health care workers who are able to provide more in-depth information, increasing nursesââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ understanding of legal issues within patient encounters, supporting nurses to translate their awareness of cultural diversity into acceptance of, appreciation for and commitment to CLD patients and their families.