Nursing students’ experience of learning cultural competence

Antón-Solanas, Isabel and Tambo-Lizalde, Elena and Hamam-Alcober, Nadia and Vanceulebroeck, Valérie and Dehaes, Shana and Kalkan, Indrani and Kömürcü, Nuran and Coelho, Margarida and Coelho, Teresa and Casa Nova, Antonio and Cordeiro, Raul and Sagarra-Romero, Lucía and Subirón-Valera, Ana B. and Huércanos-Esparza, Isabel and Hwang, Gwo-Jen (2021) Nursing students’ experience of learning cultural competence. PLOS ONE, 16 (12). e0259802. ISSN 1932-6203

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Abstract

Introduction
European societies are rapidly becoming multicultural. Cultural diversity presents new challenges and opportunities to communities that receive immigrants and migrants, and highlights the need for culturally safe healthcare. Universities share a responsibility to build a fair and equitable society by integrating cultural content in the nursing curricula. This paper aims to analyze European student nurses´ experience of learning cultural competence and of working with patients from diverse cultural backgrounds.

Materials and methods
A phenomenological approach was selected through a qualitative research method. 7 semi-structured focus groups with 5–7 students took place at the participants’ respective universities in Spain, Belgium, Turkey and Portugal.

Results
5 themes and 16 subthemes emerged from thematic analysis. Theme 1, concept of culture/cultural diversity, describes the participants’ concept of culture; ethnocentricity emerged as a frequent element in the students’ discourse. Theme 2, personal awareness, integrates the students’ self-perception of cultural competence and their learning needs. Theme 3, impact of culture, delves on the participants’ perceived impact of cultural on both nursing care and patient outcomes. Theme 4, learning cultural competence, integrates the participants’ learning experiences as part of their nursing curricula, as part of other academic learning opportunities and as part of extra-academic activities. Theme 5, learning cultural competence during practice placements, addresses some important issues including witnessing unequal care, racism, prejudice and conflict, communication and language barriers, tools and resources and positive attitudes and behaviors witnesses or displayed during clinical practice.

Conclusion
The participants’ perceived level of cultural competence was variable. All the participants agreed that transcultural nursing content should be integrated in the nursing curricula, and suggested different strategies to improve their knowledge, skills and attitudes. It is important to listen to the students and take their opinion into account when designing cultural teaching and learning activities.

Item Type: Article
Subjects: Science Repository > Social Sciences and Humanities
Depositing User: Managing Editor
Date Deposited: 27 Feb 2023 05:00
Last Modified: 30 Dec 2023 13:15
URI: http://research.manuscritpub.com/id/eprint/686

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