Increasing undergraduate nursing students' cultural competence: an evaluation study

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Cultural Competence Training
• Healthcare Professional Development

Background:

• Growing importance of cultural competence for Chinese health professionals due to internationalization and diverse domestic needs.
• Need to address the cultural competence of future healthcare providers in China.
• This study evaluated a workshop's effectiveness in improving cultural competence among undergraduate nursing students.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a one-day workshop designed to enhance cultural competence in Chinese undergraduate nursing students.
• To assess the immediate and sustained impact of the intervention on students' cultural competence.

Main Methods:

• A one-group pretest-posttest design was employed.
• A one-day workshop based on transformative learning theory was delivered to 40 undergraduate nursing students.
• The Chinese version of the Cultural Competence Inventory for Nurses (CCIN) and an evaluation form were used for data collection at multiple time points (pre-intervention, immediately post-intervention, 1 month, and 3 months post-intervention).

Main Results:

• Significant improvements were observed in total CCIN scores (p < .001) and sub-components including cultural awareness (p = .003), cultural knowledge (p < .001), cultural understanding (p = .007), and cultural skills (p < .001).
• No significant change was noted in the cultural respect component.
• Improvements were maintained at 1 and 3 months post-intervention, with participants reporting satisfaction with the workshop.

Conclusions:

• The one-day workshop proved effective in enhancing the cultural competence of undergraduate nursing students.
• The positive effects of the workshop were sustained over a three-month period.
• Further research is recommended to replicate and refine the workshop for diverse nursing student populations.