Registered nurses' experiences with caring for non-English speaking patients.

Objective: To explore registered nurses' experiences with caring for non-English speaking patients and understand how those experiences influence their clinical practice.

Background: There is limited literature that examines nurses' perceptions on caring for non-English speaking populations and the impact this increasing population has on the nurse.

Methods: An exploratory, qualitative study was conducted. Content analysis was used to identify major themes.

Results: Two major themes emerged from 17 registered nurses responses: availability of resources and changes in nursing practice. Themes revealed the availability of resources provided supportive structure or could be a challenge to providing care. Changes in clinical practice included: increased awareness of patients' needs, personal development, increased knowledge of culture, and more time and resource management.

Conclusions: Continued efforts are needed to increase cultural competence and ensuring healthcare institutions have easily accessible resources to improve the patient-provider experience for this population.