International Journal of Nursing Education

Transcultural nursing is an essential aspect of healthcare today. This requires nurses to recognize and appreciate cultural differences in healthcare values, beliefs, and customs. Nurses must acquire the necessary knowledge and skills in cultural competency. Culturally competent nursing care helps ensure patient satisfaction and positive outcomes. Transcultural nursing is both a specialty and a general practice area. It focuses on worldwide cultures and comparative cultural caring, health, and nursing phenomena. Narayanasamy developed the ACCESS model in order to help health professionals bridge the cultural gap and provide acceptable transcultural care¹:

• Assessment: focus on cultural aspects of client's lifestyle, health beliefs, and health practices

• Communication: Be aware of variations in verbal and non-verbal responses

• Cultural negotiation and compromise: become more aware of aspects of other people's culture as well as understanding client's views and explaining their problems

• Establishing respect and rapport: A therapeutic relation which portrays genuine respect for client's cultural beliefs and values is required

• Sensitivity: Deliver culturally sensitive care to a culturally diverse group

• Safety: Enable clients to derive a sense of cultural safety