Investigating intercultural effectiveness of paediatric nurses in a Turkish hospital.

BACKGROUND

Cultural competence, an important part of patient-centred care, has been on the nursing agenda for many years.

AIM

The aim of this study was to measure the intercultural effectiveness level of paediatric nurses, and to explore relationships between the level of intercultural effectiveness and some sociodemographic variables in paediatric nurses.

METHOD

The study was conducted at İzmir Tepecik Training and Research Hospital's children's clinics in Turkey. A convenience sample of 98 paediatric registered nurses practising at the hospital was evaluated. To collect the study data, a sociodemographic characteristics questionnaire, a Cultural Approach in Nursing Care form and the Intercultural Effectiveness Scale (IES) were used.

RESULTS

The participating paediatric nurses' intercultural effectiveness levels were moderate, the problem they experienced most was the language problem and although many of them had not received adequate training in cultural care, based on their experiences, they regarded themselves as culturally competent.

CONCLUSION

Cultural competence is vital in multi-ethnic and multicultural societies. Cultural competence training should be provided to nurses during nurse education, or in-service training during their professional life.