| Demographic shifts in the United States have resulted in an increasingly diverse multicultural and multigenerational population. Providing culturally appropriate care is an expectation of accreditation and approval boards for nursing in the United States. Cultural competence is a core standard in the nursing curricula of undergraduate nursing programs. Nurses, the health care professionals who have the most contact with clients, must be comfortable and able to respond with appropriate cultural sensitivity, awareness, skills, and knowledge to help clients to improve their health outcomes while minimizing disparities in treatment and access. The purpose of this study was to examine and compare the perceptions of their cultural competence of 63 graduating associate degree in nursing (ADN) students and 77 baccalaureate degree in nursing (BSN) students enrolled in three community colleges and two university nurse programs in an eastern south-central state. The instrument used to collect the data from this sample of convenience was the Inventory for Assessing the Process of Cultural Competence-Student Version (IAPCC-SV), a self-assessment tool developed by Campinha-Bacote. This quantitative study examined the students' perceptions of their levels of cultural competence by measuring their cultural awareness, cultural knowledge, cultural skill, cultural encounters, and cultural desire. The study also examined the effects of demographics (age, gender, ethnicity, and previous health care experiences) on their levels of cultural competence. Results identified a difference in the perceived cultural competence, with BSN students' perceived cultural competence being higher than that of the ADN students. Results also indicated that previous health care experiences had an effect on perceived levels of cultural competence. Constructive learning theory was the primary theoretical framework. Leininger's (1998a) cultural care theory and Campinha-Bacote's (1999) cultural competency care model served as the nursing theoretical frameworks for this study. |
