Authors: Hawthorne L.; Toth J.; Hawthorne G.

Source: Journal of Intercultural Studies, Volume 21, Number 2, 1 August 2000 , pp. 193-224(32)

Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

Abstract:

This paper charts a range of factors which have contributed to the growth in demand in Australia for the provision of bilingual bicultural nursing care over the past two decades. This demand has been generated by health policy makers and ethnic organisations, as well as select nursing and migration academics. Key reasons have included the increasing cultural and linguistic diversity of the Australian population (derived from over 140 source countries), limited patient access to translation and interpreter services, and strong indications of the existence of ethnocentrism in existing health service provision. Given nurses' position as the 'frontline providers' of hospital-based care, calls have increasingly been made for the recruitment of non-English speaking background (NESB) nurses to service major ethnic communities, in addition to the inclusion of transcultural training in nurse education courses. Despite these trends, there have been no systematic Australian studies to date of the degree to which NESB patients indeed desire bilingual bicultural nursing care, or consider it superior to 'mainstream' service provision. Based on bilingual interviews with 182 NESB patients from five migrant communities who had received recent hospital-based nursing care, this paper reveals that some 90% of patients believed the nursing care they had received in Australia was excellent or very good. Though two-thirds stated it was important to them to have culturally similar nurses in attendance, this desire was strongly influenced by the English language proficiency of informants, their perceived need for interpreters, and degree of satisfaction with medical treatment. Detailed analysis of the informants' qualitative comments revealed it was often clear communication rather than cultural sensitivity which was being sought. Russian and Chinese-speakers, moreover, frequently expressed their concern that bilingual and bicultural nursing care should not be provided at the expense of professional nursing skills, or a positive and respectful nurse care towards patients. In a number of instances, access to a nurse from the same country had reportedly led to the provision of inferior rather than superior care—a finding standing in marked contrast with the idealised presumptions underpinning much of the contemporary Australian literature.

Language: English

Document Type: Research article

Publication date: 2000-08-01

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