Culture shock.

As Canadians, we pride ourselves on our tolerance toward diverse ethnic cultures within our country. Unfortunately, tolerance is not enough. Native and ethnocultural groups have unique health care needs, needs we do not always meet. Our health care system was established before the increase in non-European immigrants and without input from native groups. As a result, the values of many nurses still reflect those of the dominant culture, often to the exclusion of other cultures. Hopefully by understanding the differences in cultural values we can improve the health status of ethnocultural and native groups in Canada.