Investigating the Relationship between Cultural Competence and Communication Skills among Intern Nursing Students at Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, in 2024
Abstract
Background: Effective communication between nurses and patients from diverse cultural backgrounds is vital for quality care. This study investigates the relationship between cultural competence and communication skills among nursing students at Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences in Yazd.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional, analytical study conducted on all clinical-stage nursing students at Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences in Yazd using a census sampling method during the Solar Hijri year 2024. Data collection tools; data were collected using the communication skills questionnaire developed by Javaher et al. and the cultural competence questionnaire developed by Naghizadeh et al. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 27, employing descriptive statistics (median, mean, standard deviation) and inferential statistics, including independent-samples t-tests, Spearman’s correlation coefficient, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), and Liner regression analysis.
Results: The analysis showed that the majority of students (63.3 %) demonstrated good communication skills. The highest mean score within communication skills belonged to the component of ‘Respect for the Patient/Client’, while the lowest was for the component of ‘Unconditional Acceptance of the Patient/Client’. Most of the dimensions of cultural competence had the median of 4, and the only dimension with a relatively lower function belonged to habits, behavior, and speaking. Moreover, 94.2 % of the students had a higher than average score in cultural competence. A positive and statistically significant correlation was found between students’ communication skills scores and their cultural competence scores ( , ). Furthermore, for every one-unit increase in the cultural competence score, the communication skills score was found to increase by an average of 0.147 units.
Conclusion: Based on the study findings, developing educational programs aimed at increasing nursing students’ knowledge of health behaviors, beliefs, and physiological differences, alongside strengthening their skills in the unconditional acceptance of patients, could lead to improved quality of nurse-patient communication and a more effective delivery of patient care
