Some want to learn more about culture, and some don’t: Cultural sensitivity development of baccalaureate nursing students

Abstract

Culture is of critical importance to the practice of nursing due to the potential for misunderstandings and misperceptions of the part of patients, families, and nurses. To avoid problems, nurses must have excellent intercultural sensitivity and intercultural competence. In spite of the potential for a "cookbook" approach to providing care for diverse patients, nurses must avoid stereotyping. Nursing students should be learning intercultural communication skills, and developing intercultural sensitivity during their nursing education. This study was undertaken to determine how intercultural sensitivity develops in baccalaureate nursing students during their second semester of nursing coursework, which is the first semester containing regular clinical experiences with patients in acute care settings. Additionally, this study seeks to understand what it is that nursing students see as culture, what cultural sensitivity is, and what helps to develop cultural sensitivity. A mixed methods approach was utilized with participant focus groups and writings combined with the Intercultural Development Inventory.