Factors Influencing the Development of Cultural Competence in Undergraduate Nursing Students

The study purposes were to assess the cultural competence level and to identify factors that influence the development of cultural competence in undergraduate nursing students.

This quantitative study using a comparative and predictive design was conducted to recruit 106 undergraduate nursing students from a university by sending e-mails to all randomly selected Associate in Science in Nursing and RN-to-Bachelor of Science in Nursing students for participation. Each student participated voluntarily to self-administer a demographic survey and the Inventory for Assessing the Process of Cultural Competence among Healthcare Professionals-Student Version (IAPCC-SV^©).

The summated score of 20 questions of the IAPCC-SV among the participating students was 61.70, indicating a culturally competent level. Approximately 51% of the variation in the cultural competence level could be attributed to the predictor of cultural encounters. The second strongest predictor was the cultural knowledge.

Further research should focus on identifying cost-effective teaching and learning strategies using the concept of cultural encounters and cultural knowledge to increase students' exposures to individuals from other cultures. [J Nurs Educ. 2018;57(1):40-43.].