Language-specific skills in intercultural healthcare communication: Comparing perceived preparedness and skills in nurses' first and second languages.

BACKGROUND: Interactions between people from different cultures are becoming increasingly commonplace in contemporary healthcare settings. To date, most research evaluating cross-cultural preparedness has assumed that medical professionals are speaking their first language (L1). However, as healthcare workers are increasingly mobile and patient populations are increasingly diverse, more and more interactions are likely to occur in a professional's non-native language (L2).

OBJECTIVES: This study assessed and compared nurses' perceived cross-cultural preparedness and skillfulness in their interactions with patients from other cultures when speaking both their L1 and L2. The goal of this project was to inform the creation of a communication skills training program.

DESIGN: Nurses reported their perceived cross-cultural preparedness and skillfulness (scales adapted from Park et al., 2009) in their L1 and L2 via an online questionnaire.

SETTINGS: This questionnaire was distributed among nurses working in Vienna, Austria, through the Vienna Hospital Association (VHA).

PARTICIPANTS: Nurses and nurses-in-training working in VHA hospitals participated. Most participants who provided demographic information were currently nurses (n=179) with an average of 16.88years (SD=11.50) of professional experience (range: 0-40); n=40 were nurses-in-training with an average of 2.13years (SD=0.88) of experience (range: 1-5).

METHODS: Descriptive statistics for each cross-cultural preparedness and skillfulness (in each language) are reported; comparisons between L1 and L2 responses were also conducted. Multiple regression analyses were used to identify predictors of preparedness and L1/L2 skillfulness.

RESULTS: Nurses reported feeling significantly less confident in their skills when working in an L2, across a range of culture-related issues. Having had previous communication skills training predicted (better) self-reported L2 skillfulness, although it did not predict L1 skillfulness.

CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that there is a language-specific component to cross-cultural skillfulness. Thus, there is a need for language-specific skills training to address L2 skill deficits.