Cultural perceptions and clinical experiences of nursing students in Eastern Turkey.
OBJECTIVE
This study explored Turkish nursing students' perceptions of providing care to patients culturally different from themselves.


BACKGROUND
Increasing migration will increase the need for nurses to provide care across cultural groups.


METHODS
Twenty one students in the second year of a 4-year nursing programme participated in 3 focus groups. Data were analysed using directed content analysis. Research questions were based on Campinha-Bacote's model.


RESULTS
Three themes were identified: perceived cultural barriers, perceived cultural facilitators and identifying culturally sensitive actions. Generally, students were able to define culture but were unable to say how culture would affect nursing practice.


CONCLUSIONS
Students were unprepared to practice in a multicultural setting. Cultural awareness is insufficient for determining how to respond to cultural differences.


CONCLUSIONS
The study is limited by its restriction to a single school of nursing and a single curriculum.


CONCLUSIONS
The multiple, ongoing political, religious and ethnic conflicts will require nurses to provide care to patients from other cultural groups, in some instances to people identified as adversaries to the group the nurse may represent. Understanding cultural differences is insufficient to do this effectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Learning culturally competent care requires opportunities to provide, be guided through and reflect on care to individuals from different cultural groups.
Standards for culturally competent care should be adopted by all care delivery settings. Public and organizational policies openly declaring healthcare settings as cultural safe zones, and explicit organizational commitment to culturally safe care, would set clear expectations for providers and help ensure a positive patient experience.
Tunceli University School of Health Science, Tunceli, Turkey.
G
G
Karatay
UW-Madison School of Nursing, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
B
B
Bowers
Internal Medicine Nursing, Faculty of Nursing - Dokuz Eylül University, IZMIR, Tunceli, Turkey.
E B
EB
Karadağ
Department of Sociology, Tunceli University, Tunceli, Turkey.
M C
MC
Demir
D054521:Cultural Competency; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D065246:Culturally Competent Care; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013338:Students, Nursing; D014421:Turkey; D055815:Young Adult
Care; Cultural Competence; Culture; Nursing Education; Qualitative Research; Safety; Turkey