PURPOSE: Nurses are expected to provide appropriate care for children from diverse cultural backgrounds to achieve the aims of current legislation on good care and to ensure equal terms for the entire population. This study aim was to describe nurses' experiences of cross-cultural care encounters when interacting with children and families with a Culturally and Linguistically Diverse background in Swedish pediatric hospital care.

DESIGN AND METHODS: A descriptive qualitative study was conducted. Individual semi-structured online interviews were performed with 21 nurses in pediatric care from six university hospitals.

RESULTS: Two themes were identified, (I) the importance of culturally competent care, with two sub-themes, (i) the significance of open-mindedness and cultural understanding, (ii) the significance of organizational support, and (II) the importance of effective communication, with three sub-themes, (i) the influence of language barriers, (ii) the importance of using communication tools and strategies and (iii) the influence of socio-cultural differences.

CONCLUSIONS: The findings provide further insight into the facilitators and barriers of cross-cultural care encounters in pediatric hospital care. Interactions with families from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds offer opportunities to enhance understanding of cultural differences and promote cultural awareness. Facilitating cross-cultural care encounters in pediatric hospital care requires cultural competence, mutual respect, and sufficient organizational support.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The findings have implications for nursing practice, particularly in improving nurses' understanding of the diverse opportunities and challenges related to cultural and linguistic diversity in pediatric care, and in improving family-centered care.