Background: Immigration is steadily increasing to Sweden and one consequence is that more and more people speak a language other than Swedish. Thus, difficulties with language barriers and cultural differences occur in health care. It is the nurse’s responsibility to provide sufficient information to the patient and see to that the patient can understand the information given and grant consent for care and treatment. When nurse and patient do not share a common language, how do we know if the information given has been received by the patient and whether the patient receives the best possible care that meets each individual needs? Aim: To highlight the language barriers in health care. Method: Literature review made after inspiration of Goodman's seven steps with database searches in PubMed and CINAHL. Results: Three main themes and five subthemes were identified; the main themes were quality of care, interpreter use and strategies for better communication. The results suggested that an effective communication between health professionals and patients were crucial to achieve a good health care quality. A recurring problem for both health professionals and patients were the patients need for information. Too little and incomplete information led to misunderstanding, incorrect treatment and poor compliance. The result showed that families are used instead of a professional interpreter whenever possible to overcome language barriers and that this could be seen as both positive and negative. Results also highlighted that an interpreter was not always used, partly because limited access of an interpretation, financial costs and lack of knowledge about using professional interpreters.