Today’s NCLEX-RN® question of the day focuses on providing culturally competent care. Do you know the answer? Let’s find out!
The community health nurse is caring for a patient with chronic low back pain. Which action best demonstrates providing culturally competent care?
A. Using the patient’s family member to interpret to Mandarin during the visit
B. Encouraging the use of acupuncture while also taking prescribed analgesics
C. Scheduling a visit on the patient’s holy day since they will be home from work
D. Making clinical decisions based on well-known cultural stereotypes
Scroll down for the correct answer!
The correct answer to today’s NCLEX-PN® Question is…
B. Encouraging the use of acupuncture while also taking prescribed analgesics
Rationale: Acupuncture is a component Chinese medicine and uses fine needles inserted into certain parts of the body to balance the flow of energy to help with problems like pain. Encouraging the use of acupuncture when taking analgesics is a way to provide culturally competent care and is an example of cultural preservation. Cultural preservation is when the nurse facilitates the use of scientifically backed cultural practices alongside Western health care models. However, the nurse should be sure to gather some additional information about the process to ensure it is safe and does not pose any health risks to the patient (e.g., infection).
Main Takeaway
The community health nurse’s goal should be to provide culturally competent care to different groups of people to promote positive population health outcomes for individuals, groups, and communities. To provide culturally competent care, the nurse should perform a cultural self-assessment to consider how their own social and cultural heritage impacts their beliefs about health and illness. This includes exploring their biases, stereotypes, and prejudices to develop cultural awareness.
The nurse should also gather information about their patient’s culture using communication techniques that support a respectful approach. The nurse should be cognizant of cultural variations in verbal communication, such as cadence, dialect, and word pronunciation, as well as non-verbal factors, like hand gestures, eye contact, and the preferred physical distance. If an interpreter is needed, a trained, qualified, and hired interpreter should be used. Using a patient’s family members or friends to interpret can lead to communication errors and violate the patient’s privacy. When gathering information from the patient, the nurse should ask about their beliefs, values, religion or spirituality, support system, diet, education, and social determinants of health, like access to transportation and ability to afford medications. The nurse should be respectful of information shared and keep it in mind for their plan of care. For example, when possible, the nurse should avoid scheduling visits that will conflict with the patient’s religious practices, such as holy days.
While caring for the patient, the nurse should consider nursing interventions that support cultural competence, like cultural preservation. Cultural preservation is when the nurse facilitates the use of scientifically backed cultural practices alongside Western health care models. For instance, encouraging the use of acupuncture when taking analgesics is a way to provide culturally competent care.
Incorrect Answer Explanations
A. Using the patient’s family member to interpret to Mandarin during the visit
Rationale: Using a patient’s family member to interpret does not provide culturally competent care as this can lead to communication errors and violate the patient’s privacy. When the nurse does not speak the same language as the patient, a trained, qualified, and hired medical interpreter should be used.
C. Scheduling a visit on the patient’s holy day since they will be home from work
Rationale: The Buddhist religion has several holy days. Scheduling a home visit on a patient’s holy day does not demonstrate culturally competent care as it hinders the patient from participating in their religious practices, some of which take place in the home.
D. Making clinical decisions based on well-known cultural stereotypes
Rationale: Making clinical decisions based on well-known cultural stereotypes does not demonstrate culturally competent care. Instead, exploring biases, stereotypes, and prejudices helps the nurse develop cultural awareness, which is a key element of cultural competence.
Want to learn more about this topic?
Watch the Osmosis video: Culture and population health: Nursing
References
- Sherpath Osmosis. (2025). Culture and population health.
- Stanhope, M. & Lancaster, J. (2022). Foundations for population health in community/public health nursing. Elsevier.
- Kizior, R. J., & Hodgson, K. J. (2026). Saunders Nursing Drug Handbook 2026. Elsevier.
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