Nursing Lecturers’ Perception and Experience of Teaching Cultural Competence: A European Qualitative Study

Abstract

Cultural competence is an essential component in providing effective and culturally responsive healthcare services, reducing health inequalities, challenging racism in health care and improving patient safety, satisfaction and health outcomes. It is thus reasonable that undergraduate nursing students can develop cultural competency through education and training. The aim of this paper was to investigate nursing lecturers’ perception and experience of teaching cultural competence in four undergraduate nursing programs. A phenomenological approach was selected to illicit nursing lecturers’ perception of culture and experience of teaching cultural competence. Semi-structured personal interviews were held with a sample of 24 lecturers from four European universities. The anonymized transcripts were analyzed qualitatively following Braun and Clark’s phases for thematic analysis. Six themes and fifteen subthemes emerged from thematic analysis of the transcripts. Cultural competence was not explicitly integrated in the nursing curricula. Instead, the lecturers used mainly examples and case studies to illustrate the theory. The integration of cultural content in the modules was unplanned and not based on a specific model. Nursing programs should be examined to establish how cultural content is integrated in the curricula; clear guidelines and standards for a systematic integration of cultural content in the nursing curriculum should be developed.

Nursing students’ experience of learning cultural competence

“…All the researchers used the same (previously agreed) focus-group guide developed by I.A-S., L.S-R. and I.H-E. Focus-group questions addressed topics such as the influence of cultural difference on health, the students’ perceived level of cultural competence, their experience of learning about cultural issues in the classroom and their experience of learning in a multicultural environment. The questions in the interview guide were designed based a thorough review of the literature and our own personal experience of teaching and learning cultural competence [ 36 ] ( Table 1 ).…”

Cultural competence among nursing students and nurses working in acute care settings: a cross-sectional study

“…It involves the meaningful, culture-based use of health and care knowledge to coordinate the needs of individuals or groups and helps them to acquire good health and well-being or to cope with illnesses, disorders, and death [ 5 ]. Studies have shown that nurses providing culturally competent nursing care have the potential to improve the quality of care [ 3 , 4 ], to heighten patient satisfaction, and to challenge racism in healthcare [ 6 ], all of which leads to better health outcomes (e.g., treatment adherence) in patients from a diversity of cultural backgrounds [ 7 ]. Nurses with high levels of cultural competence can establish more effective communication with patients, which, in turn, can help in the development of appropriate treatments [ 8 ].…”

Kultūrinė Kompetencija Teikiant Pacientams Slaugos Paslaugas

“…Slauga turėtų būti orientuota į socialinius, kultūrinius ir biologinius sveikatą lemiančius veiksnius, kad visiems būtų užtikrintos vienodos sveikatos priežiūros sąlygos. Siekiant sveikatos lygybės, būtina kokybiška tarpkultūrinė slauga, aiškiai nukreipta į struktūrines sveikatos kliūtis, pavyzdžiui, diskriminaciją [9]. Slaugos kultūrinės kompetencijos modeliai sukurti siekiant teikti kultūriškai suderintas ir kompetentingas sveikatos priežiūros paslaugas bet kokios rasės, etninės ar kultūrinės grupės pacientams [6].…”