‘Nurses need to understand beliefs and religious practices’

FOUR out of five nursing staff believe they are inadequately trained for dealing with the health care needs of asylum-seekers.

Research by clinical nurse specialist PJ Boyle has identified major weaknesses in the provision of appropriate health services to non-nationals.

“In general, nurses feel they are not prepared to deal with the issue as they do not have adequate training on the issue of transcultural nursing,” Mr Boyle said.