Population Needs: Vulnerable Populations

The intersectionality of sociocultural factors, both directly and indirectly, can impact situational health presentations, clinical decision-making for treatment, and outcomes. When treating vulnerable populations, nurses not only require an understanding of how these sociocultural factors impact the client but also require an awareness and understanding of concepts, such as the ways in which humility, oppression, and discrimination impact the person and family-centred approach, necessary to provide culturally safe care in the context of the client’s situational need. Practitioners must continuously assess and reflect on their scope of knowledge when working with vulnerable populations. Acquiring the skills and experience necessary to provide culturally competent and trauma-informed care while taking a non-expert stance can increase the client’s chances of positive outcomes from interventions by nurse psychotherapists. Several vulnerable populations that the nurse psychotherapist may encounter will be reviewed in this chapter, followed by the use of case vignettes to illustrate therapeutic application with some vulnerable populations.