Cultural competence of nurse practitioner students: a consortium's experience

Professional standards require culturally competent care, but competencies are rarely assessed. An instrument adapted from the work of cultural competence experts was used to assess the cultural competence of nurse practitioner students (n = 122). The 30-item instrument indicated adequate reliability scores (.78 to .87). Students reported high levels of comfort with people who are different from themselves and felt that cultural knowledge was important. Students scored fairly low on engaging in community-related culturally relevant behaviors. Predictors of culturally competent behaviors in clinical practice and the community were: comfort with others who are different from themselves, the degree of importance attached to cultural knowledge, and likelihood of future practice in rural areas. Nurse practitioner programs need to concentrate on increasing students' comfort with culturally diverse client groups and stressing a deeper cultural knowledge in clinical practice.