title: Measuring cultural awareness of nursing students: a first step toward cultural competency.
abstract: This pilot study was designed to measure nursing students' level of cultural awareness. It replicated phase II of Rew, Becker, Cookston, Khosropour, & Martinez's (2003) methodological study that developed and tested a Cultural Awareness Scale (CAS). Using a cross-sectional design, the CAS was distributed to nursing students in three nursing programs' (bachelor's, master's, doctoral) beginning and end courses. Cronbach's alpha for the CAS Total instrument was 0.869, with subscale scores ranging from 0.687 to 0.902, comparable to the findings of Rew et al. Given the limitations of this study, results must be viewed with a degree of caution. Recommendations include further educational research in the form of psychometric testing of the CAS among nursing students, including refinement of both the CAS instrument and the demographic tool. The authors also recommend that studies be conducted to determine the validity and reliability of the CAS with nurses in the health care arena.
authors.affiliation: New York University College of Nursing, USA.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Krainovich-Miller
authors.forename: Jennifer M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Yost
authors.forename: Robert G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Norman
authors.forename: Carolyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Auerhahn
authors.forename: May
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dobal
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rosedale
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lowry
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Moffa
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001364:Awareness; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D054521:Cultural Competency / Q000193:education*; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D003479:Curriculum / Q000592:standards; D004508:Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate / Q000592:standards; D004511:Education, Nursing, Graduate / Q000592:standards; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009518:New York; D015402:Nursing Education Research; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011594:Psychometrics; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards; D016746:Transcultural Nursing / Q000193:education