J Korean Acad Nurs Adm.  2012 Mar;18(1):76-86.

A Study on Factors Affecting Cultural Competency of General Hospital Nurses

• Chae DH
• Park YH
• Kang KH
• Lee TH

Abstract

PURPOSE
As Korea has been rapidly transformed to be a multicultural society, it becomes essential for nurses to develop cultural competency. The purpose of this descriptive study was to assess the cultural competency level of general hospital nurses and to examine its contributing factors adopting ecological model. METHOD: A convenience sample of 327 nurses from six general hospitals in Seoul metropolitan area was recruited between November 14 to 28, 2011. Cultural competency was measured using the Korean version of the Caffrey Cultural Competence in Healthcare Scale (CCCHS) and Cultural Competence Assessment(CCA). Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was performed to assess the influence of intrapersonal, cultural-experience, and organizational factors on cultural competency.
RESULTS
Mean cultural competency in this study was 2.57(+/-0.43). Cultural competency was associated with job position (p=.044) at the intrapersonal level. At the cultural experience level, foreign language classes experience (p=.005), fluency in a foreign language (p=.000), experience of working with foreign health care professionals (p=.000) were associated cultural competency. At the organizational level, training program (p=.000), job description (p=.002), health education materials (p=.016), insufficient job control (p=.000), and interpersonal conflicts (p=.011) showed significant difference. Foreign language class experience, foreign language fluency, experience of working with foreign health care professionals, and job control were the most consistent predictors of cultural competence and explained 20.4% of the total variance in the proposed ecological model.
CONCLUSIONS
The findings suggest that to enhance cultural competency in general hospital nurses, cultural experience and organizational factors need to be more fully considered than intrapersonal factors.

Keyword

Cultural competency; General hospital nurses; Ecological model; Cultural experience; Organizational factors

MeSH Terms

Cultural Competency
Delivery of Health Care
Health Education
Hospitals, General
Job Description
Korea

Figure

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  Figure 1 Conceptual framework of the study based on the ecological model

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