Table 1 Selected quotations that highlight types of cultural concordance between patient families and NICU staff.

SS, non-local Hispanic provider

Even though I speak Spanish, I had to learn when I first moved here to adjust to their language even though it is Spanish. It’s different.

Spanish fluency alone is insufficient.

SS, Hispanic participant raised locally

Here in the Valley, we have a way of talking and we have slang or Tex-Mex, like it’s a combination of English and Spanish and made-up words in Spanish that nobody else uses, only the Valley.

Description of local knowledge that is distinct from general Spanish fluency.

SS, Hispanic participant raised locally

I would say a big 75%, 80% are uneducated, high-risk families. Low-income, with all those risk factors, and those parents, I feel that it’s very easy, they are very easygoing, and I think they are very easy for me to approach because of…we share the same culture.

Comments about relating to patients because of their socioeconomic status rather than traditional aspects of culture. Poverty and low educational attainment are common in the community.

NSS, non-Hispanic, non-local, participant who has lived in the Valley for > 5 years

Knowing the culture is really helpful. Staying in the Valley helps.

Implies that local culture can be learned.

Hispanic participant

Yes, and it’s easier because I am Hispanic. Sometimes I cannot say some things to an Anglo mom to break the ice. But [if] I have a Hispanic mom, there are some things that we do, like in every culture, that breaks the ice. The way we talk, the mannerisms, that break the ice.

Emphasizes the benefit of shared ethnicity.