Paper
Thursday, 20 July 2006
This presentation is part of : Evaluating the Attitudes and Perceptions of Student Nurses
Cultural Competence and Cultural Desire: Intercultural Experiences of Nursing Students Make a Difference
Barbara A. Ihrke, PhD, RN, Division of Nursing, Indiana Wesleyan University, Marion, IN, USA
Learning Objective #1: Describe the Inventory for Assessing Biblical Worldview of Cultural Competence Among Healthcare Professionals.
Learning Objective #2: Explain the importance of intercultural experences for nursing students.
Cultural Competence and Cultural Desire: Intercultural Experiences of Nursing Students Make a Difference Nurse educators are challenged to provide experiences for nursing students so they will be competent to work with the growing diverse population. Globalization, cultural competence, and diversity are part of the nursing curriculum. Intercultural experience is a requirement in a private Christian liberal arts university. Nursing students are required to take Transcultural Nursing (2 credits) and a corresponding practicum (1 credit). This study examines cultural competence, intercultural experiences, and nursing students (pre-nursing and senior students). Cultural competence of nursing students was the subject of a joint research project with a senior nursing student. 56 freshman pre-nursing students and 53 senior nursing students completed the Inventory for Assessing a Biblical Worldview of Cultural Competence Among Healthcare Professionals (Campinha-Bacote, 2005). While the student’s research focus was cultural competence and the relationship of personal characteristics, the second focus of the research was the examination of cultural desire, cultural awareness, cultural knowledge, cultural skill, and cultural encounters. The inventory measured the level of cultural competence and the following constructs: Biblical Cultural Awareness, Biblical Cultural Knowledge, Biblical Cultural Skill, Biblical Cultural Encounters, and Biblical Cultural Desire. Each construct was measured by designated questions within the 25-question inventory. Significant t-test scores between pre-nursing students and senior nursing students were reported for the constructs awareness (p=0.0046), knowledge (p=0.0041), and encounters (p=0.0041). The relationship between the constructs and intercultural experience (within the United States) of students were significant for cultural knowledge (p=0.0010), and for intercultural experience (outside the United States) for cultural desire (p=0.016). Thus, it appears that an intercultural experience of nursing students increases their cultural desire. Campinha, Bacote, J. (2005). A Biblically based model of cultural competence in the delivery of healthcare services. Cincinnati: Transcultural C.A.R.E. Associates.

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