Ease the Way Blog

Although they’re following traditional American customer care best practices, your nursing staff may be unintentionally disrespectful to patients if they aren’t taking the patient’s cultural or religious background into account during interactions. Behaviors that are acceptable to some of your patients, such as shaking hands or making eye contact when speaking, may be seen in an entirely different way by patients from other cultures.

Emphasizing culturally congruent care—an approach that blends patient care with patient values, beliefs, lifestyle and traditions—can help every patient feel comfortable and increase your CAHPS scores. Culturally congruent care involves a personalized approach, rather than a cookie cutter method.

Avoiding the following errors will help you ensure patients are satisfied with the care they receive.

Are you a nurse who’s passionate about improving the quality of care your patients receive at every stage of their visit, from check-in to discharge?

Are you ready to step into a leadership role and coach staff members on the practices that would benefit your patients and your institution?

Can you coordinate communications within your own department and across departments?

If you answered yes to these questions, then you just might have what it takes to be a successful nurse leader. Take our quick quiz to find out if you are ready for the next step in your nursing career.