Factors associated with cultural sensitivity and global nursing education among nurse educators: A cross-sectional study

Background

Nurse educators must be culturally sensitive to teach cultural care to nursing students effectively.

Objective

To explore the factors associated with cultural sensitivity and global nursing education among nurse educators.

Methods

This was a cross-sectional exploratory study. Participants were nurse educators with registered nurse licenses in Japan whose email addresses were available on their university homepage and who agreed to participate in the survey (N = 850). Data were collected between October and November 2023, using Google Forms. The survey included demographics, language, cultural interaction, intercultural sensitivity, and 11 categories of global nursing education. Hierarchical logistic regression and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) were used in the analyses.

Results

Most of the participants were women (84.5 %). Over half of them had a PhD (60.8 %), but 6.4 % had obtained degrees in foreign countries. In the final logistic regression model, frequent participation in cross-cultural interactions and higher intercultural sensitivity were associated with global nursing teaching. In SEM, among participants who taught global nursing (n = 328), being a professor, living in a foreign country for at least six months, and having higher intercultural sensitivity were directly related to teaching four or more global nursing categories. Levels of non-native language proficiency and the number of friends from different cultures were positively associated with intercultural sensitivity.

Conclusions

Higher intercultural sensitivity is necessary for teaching global nursing. Intercultural sensitivity can be increased by living and working in foreign countries and by maintaining levels of non-native language and cross-cultural interactions.