What is a key outcome of practicing cultural safety?

• A. Decreased patient trust
• B. Improved trust and health outcomes
• C. Increased costs
• D. Longer hospital stays

Answer: (B)

Practicing cultural safety centers on building trust through care that respects patients’ cultural identities and lived experiences. When patients feel heard, valued, and involved in decisions about their care, communication improves, adherence increases, and patients are more likely to engage with the health system and follow treatments. This dynamic leads to better health outcomes and higher patient satisfaction.

Decreased trust would undermine engagement and care, while increased costs or longer hospital stays are not inherent aims or guaranteed results of culturally safe practice; they are influenced by many factors beyond the core practice of cultural safety.