Abstract
Introduction: Nurses’ cultural competence is vital in improving patients’ experiences and reducing health disparities. Cultural competence should be integrated into nursing curricula to prepare nursing students to deliver culturally competent care. Unfortunately, not all nursing educational practices are culturally competent. Institutions and agencies for advancing nursing education have acknowledged the importance of cultural competence in nursing education. Few studies have critically examined nurse faculty readiness and preparation in cultural competence in the United States. Therefore, we aimed to assess cultural competence among nurse faculty at a large nursing school in the Southwestern United States.
Methods: Using convenience sampling, a cross-sectional, descriptive quality improvement project was conducted among 41 nursing faculty participants. A demographic and professional characteristics questionnaire and the Cultural Diversity Questionnaire for Nurse Educators–Revised were administered. Faculty were also asked to respond to open-ended questions about activities or topics they used to teach or measure students’ cultural competence or to improve their own. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.
Results: The overall cultural competence score (mean=154.9; SD=23.8) indicated high levels of cultural competence of nursing faculty. Participants scored highest per item on the Cultural Awareness Subscale (mean=4.0; SD=0.7) and lowest on the Cultural Skills Subscale (mean=3.5, SD=0.8). Cultural competence scores were significantly associated with presentation of cultural content in the course (F=6, p=0.006); those who fully integrated cultural content had significantly higher cultural competence (174.3) than those who occasionally integrated cultural content (153.5) and those who merely included a cultural activity (121.3). Qualitative analysis of the open-ended questions revealed inconsistency of integration of cultural content.
Discussion: These findings can be used to prepare faculty to educate nursing students to deliver culturally competent care potentially reduce healthcare disparities, and improve patient outcomes. Nurses' cultural competence can be developed by offering multicultural nursing education, increasing direct/indirect multicultural experiences, and sharing problem-solving experiences to promote nurses’ coping abilities.
Notes
References:
American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2021). The Essentials: Core competencies for professional nursing education. https://www.aacnnursing.org/Portals/0/PDFs/Publications/Essentials-2021.pdf
Gradellini, C., Gómez-Cantarino, S., Dominguez-Isabel, P., Molina-Gallego, B., Mecugni, D., & Ugarte-Gurrutxaga, M. I. (2021). Cultural competence and cultural sensitivity education in university nursing courses: A scoping review. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 682920. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.682920 Article e682920. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.682920
Hinson, T., Brostoff, M., Grossman, A.B., Ward, V. L, Lind, K., & Wood, L J. (2022). Increasing racial and ethnic diversity in the nursing workforce: One pediatric hospital's strategic approach. The American Journal of Maternal/Child Nursing, 47(5), 265–272,
https://doi.org/10.1097/NMC.0000000000000840
Majnoon, S., Yates, V. M., Asgarpour, H., Mirza Aghazadeh Attari, A., & Lotfi, M. (2023). Cultural competence of nursing educators at medical universities of 2nd regional planning in Iran. BMC Medical Education, 23(1), 328. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-023-04274-5
Osmancevic, S., Großschädl, F. & Lohrmann, C. (2023). Cultural competence among nursing students and nurses working in acute care settings: A cross-sectional study. BMC Health Services Research, 23(1), Article e105. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-023-09103-5.
Sigma Membership
Zeta Pi
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Quality Improvement
Research Approach
Mixed/Multi Method Research
Keywords:
Competence, Teaching and Learning Strategies, Faculty Development, Nursing Education, Advances in Education, Cultural Competence
Recommended Citation
Mathew Joseph, Nitha; Tsusaki, Rebecca L.; Miller, D’hania L.; Eapen, Doncy Joji; McBee, Marie; Ross, Mary Ellen Trail; Fitch, Olivia; Mauricio, Riza V.; Lewandowski, Sara; and McEwen, Melanie, "Assessment of Cultural Competence of Nursing Faculty" (2025). Biennial Convention (CONV). 190.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/convention/2025/presentations_2025/190
Conference Name
48th Biennial Convention
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Conference Year
2025
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2025-12-05
Assessment of Cultural Competence of Nursing Faculty
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Introduction: Nurses’ cultural competence is vital in improving patients’ experiences and reducing health disparities. Cultural competence should be integrated into nursing curricula to prepare nursing students to deliver culturally competent care. Unfortunately, not all nursing educational practices are culturally competent. Institutions and agencies for advancing nursing education have acknowledged the importance of cultural competence in nursing education. Few studies have critically examined nurse faculty readiness and preparation in cultural competence in the United States. Therefore, we aimed to assess cultural competence among nurse faculty at a large nursing school in the Southwestern United States.
Methods: Using convenience sampling, a cross-sectional, descriptive quality improvement project was conducted among 41 nursing faculty participants. A demographic and professional characteristics questionnaire and the Cultural Diversity Questionnaire for Nurse Educators–Revised were administered. Faculty were also asked to respond to open-ended questions about activities or topics they used to teach or measure students’ cultural competence or to improve their own. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.
Results: The overall cultural competence score (mean=154.9; SD=23.8) indicated high levels of cultural competence of nursing faculty. Participants scored highest per item on the Cultural Awareness Subscale (mean=4.0; SD=0.7) and lowest on the Cultural Skills Subscale (mean=3.5, SD=0.8). Cultural competence scores were significantly associated with presentation of cultural content in the course (F=6, p=0.006); those who fully integrated cultural content had significantly higher cultural competence (174.3) than those who occasionally integrated cultural content (153.5) and those who merely included a cultural activity (121.3). Qualitative analysis of the open-ended questions revealed inconsistency of integration of cultural content.
Discussion: These findings can be used to prepare faculty to educate nursing students to deliver culturally competent care potentially reduce healthcare disparities, and improve patient outcomes. Nurses' cultural competence can be developed by offering multicultural nursing education, increasing direct/indirect multicultural experiences, and sharing problem-solving experiences to promote nurses’ coping abilities.
Description
Nurses’ cultural competence is essential to improve patients’ experiences and reduce disparities in health care. This quality improvement project analyzed the cultural competence of nursing faculty at a selected nursing school in the U.S. The findings highlight the critically needed areas of faculty preparation in cultural competence. These findings can be used to prepare faculty to educate nursing students to deliver culturally competent care to improve patient outcomes.