Respecting Culture and Honoring Diversity in Community Practice

Nurses work with individuals, families, groups, and communities where lives are enriched and challenged by cultural diversity. The purpose of this article is to discuss challenges and strategies for respecting culture and honoring diversity. This article diverges from the traditional nursing practice of working with individuals to working with collectives, to community practice beyond individuals and families, beyond community as context, to community as client. Culture and ethnicity are defined to set the stage for discussion of theory and its application to practice. Acculturation theory is explored through comparisons of the Canadian mosaic and American melting pot. Cultural competence, cultural attunement, and cultural humility are examined, and recommendations for effective community practice in working with groups and organizations are shared.