Perspectives of Registered Nurse Cultural Competence in a Rural State--Part II

Abstract

The article is the second in a two-article series. The first article in the series provided the reader a conceptual definition of cultural competence, a literature review and a description of the relevance of culturally competent care in a rural state. In this article, the author described the outcomes of a self-assessment survey completed by registered nurses in a homogenous rural state. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between cultural competence and educational preparation. It was hypothesized that the North Dakota nurses who reported participation in cultural competency educational programs would rank themselves higher on the IAPCC-R than those who had not reported participation in such programs. A voluntary sample of registered nurses from urban and rural hospitals in the state of North Dakota were surveyed using the Inventory for Assessing the Process of Cultural Competence –Revised version (IAPCC-R) and a demographic survey tool. The data analysis was accomplished through correlational statistics. Results of this research indicate that a majority (>80%) of the participants did not consider themselves culturally competent. While higher self rating scores did correlate to participation in educational activities, the quality and frequency of those activities varies. The author offered suggestions for improved rate and quality of cultural competence education as well as suggestions for further research.