Prerequisites to providing culturally competent care to Mexican migrant farmworkers: a Delphi study

The purpose of this study was to identify prerequisites to providing culturally competent care to Mexican migrant farmworkers. A national sample of nurse experts who worked with Mexican migrant farmworkers (N = 93 [50.2%] in round 1; and N = 142 [54.8%] in round 2) participated during the period of August 1998 to April 1999. Using a two-round modified Delphi method, a list of 89 items was generated. The nurse experts agreed that the 89 items identified were prerequisites to cultural competence, showing consensus rates of 85.4% in round 1 and 88.8% in round 2. The prerequisites to culturally competent care identified by participants encompassed caring, cultural sensitivity, cultural knowledge (general/specific), cultural abilities/skills, and others (bi-cultural status; cultural and learning experiences).