School nursing ; Cultural competency ; Transcultural nursing ; Self efficacy
Abstract
Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the factors affecting the cultural competency of elementary school
nurses. Methods: Data were collected from a convenience sample of 109 school nurses who were recruited from
elementary schools across three large cities in South Korea. The daata were analyzed with independent t-tests,
a one-way ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation coefficients, and stepwise multiple regression. Results: School nurses
who had experience caring for multicultural students showed a significant difference in the cultural competency
(t=8.75, p=.004). Factors affecting their cultural competency were awareness of multicultural families (β=.17,
p=.006) and transcultural self-efficacy (β=.69, p<.001), which explained 58.6% of the total variance. Conclusion:
The findings suggest that it is necessary to provide more training and educational programs for school nurses
to improve their awareness of multiculcural families, including interventions to enhance transcultural self-efficacy,
in order to enhance their cultural competence and to help them provide tailored care for multicultural students
with diverse cultural backgrounds.