Effect of a transcultural nursing course on improving the cultural competency of nursing graduate students in Korea: a before-andafter study

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the impact of a transcultural nursing course on enhancing the cultural competency of graduate nursing students in Korea. We hypothesized that participants’ cultural competency would significantly improve in areas such as communication, biocultural ecology and family, dietary habits, death rituals, spirituality, equity, and empowerment and intermediation after completing the course. Furthermore, we assessed the participants’ overall satisfaction with the course.

Methods: A before-and-after study was conducted with graduate nursing students at Hallym University, Chuncheon, Korea, from March to June 2023. A transcultural nursing course was developed based on Giger & Haddad’s transcultural nursing model and Purnell’s theoretical model of cultural competence. Data was collected using a cultural competence scale for registered nurses developed by Kim and his colleagues. A total of 18 students participated, and the paired t-test was employed to compare pre-and post-intervention scores.

Results: The study revealed significant improvements in all 7 categories of cultural nursing competence (P<0.01). Specifically, the mean differences in scores (pre–post) ranged from 0.74 to 1.09 across the categories. Additionally, participants expressed high satisfaction with the course, with an average score of 4.72 out of a maximum of 5.0.

Conclusion: The transcultural nursing course effectively enhanced the cultural competency of graduate nursing students. Such courses are imperative to ensure quality care for the increasing multicultural population in Korea.