Factors Predicting Cultural Competency of Registered Nurses: A Case Study at a Private Hospital in Bangkok

Abstract

The purposes of this descriptive research were: (1) to study the cultural competency of registered nurses at a private hospital, (2) to explore the relationships between social factors and economies, the perception for the policy related to culture, life style and cultural value, cultural knowledge and the cultural competency of registered nurses, and (3) to investigate the predicted power of social factors and economies, the perception for the policy related to culture, life style and cultural value, cultural knowledge to the cultural competency of registered nurses. The sample were 135 registered nurses. Questionnaires were comprised five sections: personal data, the perception for the policy related to culture, life style and cultural value, cultural knowledge, and cultural competency. The content validity indexes of the second to the fifth sections were .88, .92, .88, .88, and Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were .82, .96, .81, and .98, respectively. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, Pearson product moment correlation, and stepwise multiple regression analysis.

The results revealed as follows: (1) registered nurses rated their cultural competency at the high level. (2) There were significant relationships between cultural values, cultural attitude, perception of technology information, the perception for the policy related to culture, cultural knowledge, language performance, chance to contact foreigner, and the cultural competency of registered nurses, but there was no significant relationship between salary, working experience, and cultural competency at p-value .05. (3) Cultural values, perception of technology information, cultural knowledge, the perception for the policy related to culture, and cultural attitude could predict cultural competency which accounted for 45.0% of the variance at p-value .05.