Influence of Cultural Competence on Nursing Professionalism of Nursing Students

Park, Mijeong; Yoo, Hana

Abstract

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of cultural competence on nursing professionalism among nursing students in South Korea.
METHODS
A sample of 218 nursing students in three universities answered a self-report questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Mann-Whitney U-test, Kruskal-Wallis test, Pearson's correlation analyses, and hierarchical multiple regression were used to analyze the data.
RESULTS
There were significant differences in cultural competence depending on the use of foreign language, having foreign friends, frequency of interaction with foreigners, multi-cultural education experiences, and level of demand for multicultural education. There were significant differences in nursing professionalism depending on grade level, satisfaction with major choice, college life satisfaction, and foreign language learning experience. There was a significant positive correlation between cultural competence and nursing professionalism. Lastly, significant predictors of nursing professionalism included satisfaction with major choice (Î²=.22, p=.004), cultural awareness (Î²=.22, p=.007) and cultural experience (Î²=.17, p=.026). The regression model explained 20.2% of nursing professionalism.
CONCLUSION
In order to establish desirable nursing professionalism, strategies for enhancing cultural awareness and cultural experiences in nursing education courses are needed both inside and outside the curriculum.