Nurses- puerperal mothers interaction: searching for cultural care

Qualitative study based on content analysis. To collect data, 36 semi structured interviews were applied (21 nurses and 15 women who had recently given birth). The participants’ free and informed consent was ensured and all ethical requirements were respected. Data analysis was supported by NVivo 10 software.

Results:

The following categories were considered the most relevant: (i) nurses’ attitudes that puerperal mothers consider crucial in health care provision; (ii) nurses’ cultural competence; (iii) language resources used by nurses in their interaction with people from other cultures; (iv) the limitations that were observed during nurses-new mothers interactions.

Conclusion:

Evidence shows that, generally speaking, nurses claim to provide personalized health care assistance. However data revealed that the kind of interaction observed between nurses and women who had just given birth has not always been the most effective and that the former often show they lacked the appropriate cultural competence to deal with the latter’s expectations and needs.

Descriptors:
Cultural Competence; Puerperium; Nurses; Communication; Attitude

Category	Subcategories	n	RU
Nurses' attitudes that puerperal mothers consider to be crucial in health care provision	Their ability to help	11	20
	Their concern	10	13
	To be nice/friendly	9	13
	To be present	9	11
	Their competence	8	11
	Their professionalism	7	8
	To show kindness	7	7
	To pay attention	6	6
	To restore confidence	5	8
	Their respect for singularity	5	7
	Their humanity	5	6
	Their collaborative attitude	4	5
	To be patient	4	4
	To be able to recognize differences	3	4
	Their ability to comfort	3	4
	To show readiness	2	4
	Their capacity to be active listeners	2	2
	To respond swiftly	2	2
	Their capacity to provide proximity care	2	2
	To reassure	2	2
	Their willingness to provide support	1	1
	Their politeness	1	1

Category	Subcategories	n	RU
To exert cultural competence	To respect people from other cultures	11	12
	To respond to the person's needs	5	5
	To be interested in knowing about other cultures	5	5
	The willingness to adapt to different cultures	3	3
	To be able to learn about other cultures through the interaction with puerperal women	3	3
	To establish an effective communication	2	2
	To possess knowledge about other cultures	2	2
	To understand the others to be able to understand ourselves	1	1
	To help understand other perspectives	1	1

Category	Subcategories	n	RU
Language resources used by nurses in their interaction with people from other cultures	Nurses' different language skills	2	2
	A next of kin capable of translating the patient's language	1	2
	Hospital translators/interpreters	1	1

Category		Subcategories	n	RU
Limitations/ constraints observed during nurses- puerperal mothers interactions	Constraints expressed by nurses	The lack of knowledge about other cultures	7	8
		A poor knowledge about cultural care	3	5
		The conviction that some beliefs are wrong	1	1
	Constraints expressed by puerperal mothers	A poor support caused by the nurse-patient ratio	2	4
		The lack of constant support during breast feeding	1	1
		The technical jargon used by health care providers	1	1
		A poor knowledge	1	1

Associação Brasileira de Enfermagem SGA Norte Quadra 603 Conj. "B" - Av. L2 Norte 70830-102 Brasília, DF, Brasil, Tel.: (55 61) 3226-0653, Fax: (55 61) 3225-4473 - Brasília - DF - Brazil
E-mail: reben@abennacional.org.br

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[1] Corresponding Author: Emília Coutinho E-mail: ecoutinhoessv@gmail.com