Paper
Wednesday, 19 July 2006
This presentation is part of : Cultural Competence in Nursing Students
Cultural Knowledge and Attitudes of Nursing Students
Barbara R. McClaskey, PhD, RNC and Cheryl K. Giefer, PhD, FNP-C. Nursing, Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, KS, USA
Learning Objective #1: Verbalize the benefits of providing a transcultural health care experience for students.
Learning Objective #2: Understand the challenges of providing a transcultural health care experience for students.
Nursing has always emphasized the importance of providing care that is respectful of individual uniqueness, value systems, lifestyle, and health-care practices of the client. Considering the increasing cultural diversity throughout the United States, students need to be prepared to provide culturally sensitive and competent care to individuals and families. The purpose of this study was to assess cultural knowledge and attitudes of nursing students. In addition, the current knowledge and attitudes of those students who participated in a brief transcultural health care experience was compared to their knowledge and attitude scores measured before the experience. The setting for the experience was Hospital de la Familia, a 60-bed hospital, located in Juarez, Mexico. Students observed and assisted on the following units: labor/delivery, pediatrics, nursery, postpartum, outpatient area and emergency care. The research design of the study was quasi-experimental with 21 students in the experimental group and 21 in the control group. Data analysis includes descriptive and comparative statistics. The Culture Shock Inventory factor scores include: lack of Western ethnocentrism, cultural experience, cognitive flex, behavioral flex, cultural knowledge-specific, cultural knowledge-general, cultural behavior, and interpersonal sensitivity. Students who participated in the experience had higher scores on lack of western ethnocentrism, cultural knowledge-specific, cultural behavior, and interpersonal sensitivity. Those students also had higher scores on the post-test as compared to the pre-test in all but one of the subscales. Students reported increased knowledge of health and nursing in another culture, increased empathy for clients who seek health care in an environment in which they do not speak the language, respect for the hospital personnel’s resourcefulness, and increased appreciation for patient care supplies that are readily available in the United States. This brief transcultural experience is beneficial to the students and the hospital has encouraged the students to return as often as possible.

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