Multicultural personality profiles and nursing student attitudes towards refugee healthcare workers: A national, multi-institutional cross-sectional study

Multicultural organizations in the era of globalization require intercultural leadership skills. Healthcare, as a sector serving diverse populations, necessitates culturally sensitive staff. Intercultural nurse education should start in undergraduate education. A tailored approach is needed, especially in the context of Poland's refugee crisis.

To investigate how a multicultural personality profile and specific intercultural perspectives affect the attitudes of nursing students towards Ukrainian refugee background healthcare professionals.

A nationwide cross-sectional multicentre online survey study was conducted. The questionnaire was distributed with the aid of the Lime Survey web platform.

The study utilized a Polish version of the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire. The questionnaire also included demographics and questions assessing intercultural competence and attitudes towards refugee medical professionals. K-Means Cluster Analysis was used to classify different patterns of multicultural personality. P-value <0.05 was deemed to be statistically significant.

The study sample consisted of 1325 undergraduate nursing students from 39 nursing schools in Poland: 54.0% in first year, 28.7% in second year, and 17.3% in third year. Most respondents were female (N = 1229, 90%).

Using cluster analysis respondents were categorized into four groups based on their level of three analyzed multicultural personality traits: cultural empathy, social initiative, and open-mindedness (high, low, average or mixed level). Statistical analysis demonstrated that personality profiles significantly affected nursing students' attitudes towards refugee health professionals (p = 0.003). Additionally, students' willingness to engage in intercultural communication classes and their belief in the learnability of intercultural competence also impacted their attitudes (p < 0.001 for both). Further analysis revealed correlations between personality profiles, belief in competency acquisition, and willingness to enhance competencies.

The design of intercultural competence education for undergraduate nursing students should be preceded by a mapping of the students' personality profile and a needs analysis in this regard, which may contribute to long-term effectiveness of such initiatives.