Cultural challenges: Exploring nurses’ experiences in clinical practice across two European countries

Abstract

Introduction: Cultural challenges in clinical practice can directly affect the quality and effectiveness of care for patients from different cultures. Aim: To find out and compare Czech and Slovak nurses’ cultural challenges in their clinical practice. Methods: This cross-sectional comparative study used a non-standard questionnaire to explore cultural challenges in nurses’ clinical practice in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. This study followed the guidelines provided by the STROBE checklist. The statistical analysis was conducted using SASD 1.5.8 and IBM SPSS Statistics version 28.0.0. Results: The study sample comprised 202 nurses from the Czech Republic and 222 nurses from Slovakia. The findings suggest that the most significant cultural challenge identified by nurses in both countries is the language barrier, which is compounded by staff shortages. It was found that nurses who are proficient in multiple languages demonstrated increased sensitivity to cultural challenges, which may indicate a correlation between multilingual ability and the perception of cultural barriers. The results suggest that factors such as gender, role within the healthcare setting, years of experience, and educational level may have an impact on the perception of cultural challenges. Conclusion: As a result, it may be important to develop targeted interventions to improve cultural competence. Interventions such as education about cultures, training, and policy adjustments could be considered to create a more equitable and effective care environment for patients from diverse cultural backgrounds. This approach may lead to improved healthcare outcomes and increased patient satisfaction.