Cultural Sensitivity Among Clinical Nurses: A Descriptive Study.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the cultural sensitivity of nurses working in rural and urban hospitals in Turkey.

DESIGN AND METHODS: The sampling of this descriptive and correlational study was composed of only 516 clinical nurses working in inpatient clinics. The data collection tools were the Socio-Demographic Questionnaire and the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale.

FINDINGS: A majority of the participating nurses experienced culture-related problems. Intercultural Sensitivity Scale results were partially high. The nurses had more problems in areas related to language barriers, patients' education level, and health perception about disease and religious beliefs when providing health care. Participants who were female, had an undergraduate or graduate education, had received in-service education on cultural care, or had taken transcultural nursing coursework obtained higher scores on the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale and its Interaction Engagement subscale. The cultural sensitivity level was 84.01 ± 9.1 (range = 43-107). The proportion of nurses who had received no in-service education was very high. They wanted to participate in an education program to gain better understanding of the culture of the society in which they lived.

CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present study demonstrated that nurses should be prepared in cultural sensitivity and cultural competence.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Continuing education and formal courses on cultural sensitivity for nursing professionals are essential for optimal health outcomes. Thus, inequalities in health could be prevented and the quality of health care could be improved.