Cultural Capability in the Professional Care of Nurses for Medical Tourists in Iran: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Background: Medical tourists create an issue that needs to be investigated in different parts of the world. Increasing expectations of health tourists for health services improves the quality of nursing care services for foreign clients. Due to globalization, nurses are required to handle the increasing number of overseas visitors and immigrants. Objectives: This study was conducted to assess cultural capability in the professional care of nurses for medical tourists in Iran. Methods: We conducted 23 semi-structured interviews in 2021 - 2022 in this qualitative study. The interviewees included nurses from international wards and wards with international patients, patients, patient companions, and doctors. The interviews were conducted using a goal-oriented method. After recording, the data were analyzed using the conventional qualitative content analysis of Lundman and Graneheim. Results: In this study, a main theme called “Cultural capability in professional care” was categorized into 8 categories: “Culture-oriented language communication,” “Culture-oriented communication interactions,” "Cultural humility," "valuing cultural diversity," "context-based client training," and "respectful communication.". Conclusions: Cultural capability in the professional care of nurses is important for providing comprehensive and quality care because patients come with different cultural beliefs and from different geographical areas.