Contributors to the development of intercultural competence in nursing students

Abstract

Nurses deal more effectively with cultural diversity when they have an ethnorelative orientation toward cultural difference and commonality on the Intercultural Development Continuum, which was the theoretical framework of this study. Scholarly literature shows limited knowledge on what fosters nurses' intercultural development. Thus, this quantitative, retrospective study was the first investigation in health care in Switzerland conducted on nursing students' orientation on the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI). The sample consisted of the IDI results from nursing students enrolled between 2010 and 2016 at the largest Nursing College in Switzerland (N = 1.112 students in 40 cohorts) where the systematic integration of the development of intercultural competence into the curriculum began in 2010. The aim was to examine to what extent the orientation toward cultural difference and commonality on the Intercultural Development Continuum of nursing students in Switzerland differs from the start- to the end-point of their nursing education. The paired samples t-test demonstrated a higher end of program developmental orientation (p = .01) compared to beginning developmental orientation scores, suggesting the program provided challenges that met the students' level of readiness for cultural development. Educators can use the knowledge provided in this study and implement intercultural competence as a central element within the curriculum following the example of the Nursing College included in this study.