Baccalaureate student nurses must acknowledge that cultural differences can easily hinder a patient’s ability to understand their diagnosis and plan of care. Cultural diversity in the patient population may negatively affect how ethnically diverse individuals receive and interpret healthcare services and treatment information. To become a culturally competent nurse, baccalaureate students should be cognizant of the various language and communication barriers that may occur when caring for patients of diverse cultural heritages. Reyes et al. (2013) alludes to the importance of recognizing that baccalaureate student nurses’ own interpretation of caregiving may be completely separate from the patient’s interpretation. This must be considered
