A descriptive study of the cultural competence of hemodialysis nurses

Within a society that is becoming increasingly multicultural, it is vital for nurses to become culturally competent in order to meet the needs of a culturally diverse population. Cultural knowledge plays a primary role in influencing the quality of care that nurses provide on a daily basis. The purpose of this descriptive study was to assess the cultural competence level of hemodialysis nurses. The study was conducted in an outpatient setting at a large teaching hospital in Canada. The Inventory for Assessing the Process of Cultural Competence-Revised (IAPCC-R) was used as the questionnaire for this study. A convenience sample of 58 hemodialysis nurses completed the IAPCC-R tool. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The nurses had a mean score of 65.58% on the IAPCC-R tool, indicating that they were culturally aware, but not culturally proficient. Further analysis of the IAPCC-R results showed that the nurses were lacking information in the area of cultural knowledge, but that they were motivated to become culturally competent. The findings from this study indicated that, in a society that is becoming increasingly multicultural, hemodialysis nurses were motivated to become culturally competent. There is a need for nurse educators to support nurses to reach this goal.