Cultural aspects of orthopaedic nursing.

In today's highly mobile and transnational healthcare world, attention to the cultural background of orthopaedic patients is no longer a luxury when implementing care. Nurses can overcome cultural blindness by developing an awareness of their own cultural backgrounds and an understanding about nursing values as an expression of cultural norms of the discipline. Developing cultural sensitivity without stereotyping patients is a challenge to the professionalism of the nurse. However, assessment and care of orthopaedic patients can be enhanced by attention to aspects of both the nurse's and the patient's cultural backgrounds. Such analysis can lead to some depth of understanding of the patient and a genuine desire of the nurse to interact with the patient.