Assessment of professional nursing students' knowledge and attitudes aboutpatients of diverse cultures

This study examined personal attitudes of 152 Bachelors of Science in Nursi ng (BSN), registered nurse (RN) to BSN, and master's students enrolled in a school of nursing in the southwestern United States toward culturally dive rse patients and their perceived knowledge of specific cultural practices a nd culture-specific skills. Three instruments were used to collect data: th e Ethnic Attitude Scale-Part 1, the Transcultural Questionnaire, and a demo graphic survey. Findings reveal that students in all three programs had a r elatively low knowledge base about specific cultural groups. The only stati stically significant difference found in attitudes, perceived knowledge of cultural patterns, or perceived cultural skills by program was the slightly higher perceived ability of generic BSN students to distinguish between co ncepts such as ethnocentrism and discrimination, intra- and intercultural d iversity, and ethnicity and culture. Similar to other studies of measuremen t of provider attitudes and perceived cultural knowledge, the results of th is study reinforce the struggle experienced by educators and the challenges faced by health care administrators grappling with teaching and delivering culturally competent care. The findings imply that nurse educators need to examine alternate models and teaching strategies to move students along th e continuum of cultural learning. Copyright (C) 2001 by W.B. Saunders Compa ny.