Cultural Competence of Nursing Education at Medical universities of 2nd Regional Planning in Iran

Abstract

Abstract Background: One of the aspects of nursing care, as a holistic profession, is cultural care. Considering the importance of the role of culture on their health behaviors, it is very important for nurses to pay enough attention to cultural care. Considering the importance of the issue that nursing lecturers must have cultural competence to teach cultural care to students, the purpose of this study is to determine the cultural competence of nursing educators of universities of medical sciences in the 2nd regional planning in Iran. Materials and methods: The current research is a descriptive and survey study. The framework of this research is based on the Campinha-Bacote model of cultural competency. All nursing educators of universities of medical sciences in 2nd regional planning of Iran (Tabriz, Urmia, Ardabil, Khoy, Maragheh, Sarab and Khalkhal) were considered as research units and the cultural diversity questionnaire for nursing professors (CDQNE-R) was used for them. Out of 129 questionnaires sent, 84 questionnaires were returned. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 26 software. Findings: The results of this study showed that the research participants agree with the subscales of cultural awareness, cultural knowledge, cultural skill and cultural inclination according to Sealey and Yates interpretation scale. Also, the research units have doubts regarding the cultural exposure subscale. The average score of the participants' answers to the questions of each subscale is 4.11, 3.52, 3.71, 3.38, and 3.93 for the subscales of cultural awareness, cultural knowledge, cultural skill, cultural exposure, and cultural desire, respectively. The average score of participants' responses to the subscale of transcultural educational behaviors was 3.90 and 3.73 for general cultural competence.

Discussion and conclusion: The nursing professors participating in the present study agreed with the 4 sub-models of Campinha-Bacote cultural care, and the existence of cultural competence criteria. Also, the research units have doubts about the cultural exposure subscale. This result means that the participants in the research have doubts about their level of participation in face-to-face interactions with people from different cultural, racial and ethnic groups. According to the results of the study, it is important to hold transcultural nursing training workshops and courses in order to maintain and improve the level of cultural competence of nursing professors of universities of medical sciences in 2nd regional planning of Iran.