Abstract
BACKGROUND: Cultural competence has become increasingly important for Chinese health professionals because of internationalization and the opening up of China to overseas visitors and business as well as a growing awareness of the needs of minority groups within China. This study aimed to evaluate a workshop designed to improve cultural competence among Chinese undergraduate nursing students. METHODS: A one-group pretest and posttest design was applied. The intervention was a one-day workshop based on transformative learning theory using a variety of teaching strategies. Forty undergraduate nursing students from a university in Wuhan, China selected by convenient sampling received the intervention. Data were collected before the intervention (T1), immediately after the intervention (T2), and 1 month (T3) and 3 months (T4) following the intervention through the Chinese version of Cultural Competence Inventory for Nurses (CCIN). A researcher-designed evaluation form including open-ended questions was also used. RESULTS: Participants' scores by CCIN increased significantly in the total score (p < .001) as well as the components of cultural awareness (p = .003), cultural knowledge (p < .001), cultural understanding (p = .007) and cultural skills (p < .001), but not in cultural respect. This improvement maintained at T3 and T4. Overall, participants were satisfied with the workshop, and the qualitative results supported the effects of this intervention. CONCLUSIONS: The one-day workshop was effective in improving nursing students' cultural competence. Replication or further refinement of this workshop is recommended for future research among additional nursing students with diverse backgrounds.