Culture and communication in Thai nursing: a report of an ethnographic study

Most nurses live and work in multicultural settings. Given the need for all nurses and health-care workers to communicate—with patients, with families and with other health-care professionals—the study of the relationship between culture and communication can help to inform practice. This paper offers the findings from an ethnographic study of culture and communication, carried out in Thailand. The aim of the study was to address the question: ‘in what, if any, ways do Thai cultural issues influence interpersonal communication patterns in Thai nursing and Thai nursing education?’. Data were collected from a variety of sources, including direct and indirect observation, interviews and discussions and the literature on the topic. For the interviews, the sample was a convenience and purposive one made up of clinical nurses and nurse educators (n=14). Those data were analysed with the aid of a computerised, qualitative data analysis program. Findings reported in this paper include those relating to ‘Thainess’, Buddhism, the nursing profession and nurse–patient/doctor–patient relationships. The report ends with a ‘portrait’ of Thai nursing communication. It is suggested that understanding the cultural aspects of nursing in various contexts can help nurses, internationally.