Educational Needs of European Intensive Care Nurses with Respect to Multicultural Care: A Mix-Method Study.

The aim of the study is the analysis of educational needs of European intensive care nurses (ICNs) with regard to multicultural care. A mixed-method multinational study was performed among 591 ICNs coming from 15 European countries. An online survey was utilised with three research tools: participants' sociodemographic details, Healthcare Provider Cultural Competence Instrument, and a tool to assess the educational needs of ICU nurses with respect to multicultural care. The highest mean values in self-assessment of preparation of ICU nurses to provide multicultural nursing care and their educational needs in this regard were detected in the case of nurses coming from Southern Europe (M = 4.09; SD = 0.43). With higher age, nurses recorded higher educational needs in the scope of multicultural care (r = 0.138; p = 0.001). In addition, speaking other languages significantly correlated with higher educational needs related to care of patients coming from different cultures (Z = -4.346; p < 0.001) as well as previous education on multicultural nursing care (Z = -2.530; p = 0.011). Experiences of difficult situations when caring for culturally diverse patients in ICU were classified into categories: 'treatment procedures and general nursing care', 'family visiting', 'gender issues', 'communication challenges', and 'consequences of difficult experiences'. The educational needs of intensive care nurses in caring for culturally diverse patients are closely related to experiencing difficult situations when working with such patients and their families.

European intensive care nurses' cultural competency: An international cross-sectional survey.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the level of cultural competence of European critical care nurses. DESIGN: A multi-country survey performed in 2017 as a part of the European project Multicultural Care in European Intensive Care Units. METHOD: Online survey of critical care nurses in 15 European countries (n = 591) using the Healthcare Provider Cultural Competence Instrument consisting of 49 items divided into five subscales: awareness and sensitivity, behaviour, patient-centred orientation, practice orientation and self-assessment. Descriptive and correlational analyses were performed. RESULTS: Critical care nurses scored highest for 'awareness and sensitivity' (M = 5.09, SD = 0.76), and lowest for 'patient-centred communication' (M = 3.26, SD = 0.94). Nurses from northern and southern Europe scored higher across all subsets of the cultural competence instrument (all subsets, p < 0.001) than nurses from central Europe. Speaking other languages significantly correlated with higher scores in all subscales (all > 0.05) except 'practice orientation'. Previous education on multicultural nursing significantly correlated with higher scores in all subscales (all > 0.01) except patient-centred communication; and visits to other countries was negatively correlated with all subscales (all, p > 0.001) except patient-centred communication. CONCLUSION: Being exposed to cultural diversity in different ways, like living in a multicultural country, speaking a second language and visiting other countries may influence development of cultural competence. Therefore, programmes which facilitate multicultural clinical practice are strongly recommended in nursing education.