| Existing literature revealed that there are insufficient numbers of empirical studies that explore the relationship between nurse manager's cross-cultural communication competence (CCC) and the performance of a multicultural team. Thus, a correlational study design was completed to assess relationships between multicultural team performance and RN staff and manager self-ratings of the four dimensions of manager's CCC: Interpersonal skills, team performance, cultural empathy, and cultural uncertainty. Other factors such as years of RN work experience, participation in multicultural and or cross-cultural training, and the congruity between staff RN's CCC scores ratings and the manager's self-rating were also analyzed for a relationship to multicultural RN team performance. Based on data from 48 RNs in two hospital units, RN experience and previous multicultural and cross-cultural trainings were not significantly related to multicultural RN team performance. Staff RNs seem to be able to realistically evaluate their manager's cultural competence, as the data indicated no significant differences between the managers' and staff RNs' ratings of manager's cultural competence. Furthermore, multicultural team performance was significantly related to the manager's CCC ratings by RN staff. Cross-cultural communication competence of mid-level managers is an important component of RN team building and performance, and this study suggests that additional manager education about cultural competence and research of workforce productivity is warranted. |
