Cultural Awareness Among Nursing Staff at an Academic Medical Center

OBJECTIVE: The goal is to identify areas for targeted improvement in regard to cultural awareness and competence among nursing staff and in the work environment. BACKGROUND: Many facilities have initiated programs to facilitate cultural competence development among nursing staff; however, there has been little examination of the effect of these initiatives, assessment of experienced nurses' cultural awareness, or investigation of nurse leader's role in promoting cultural competence in the literature. METHODS: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, a cultural awareness survey was modified and electronically distributed to all registered nurses and assistive personnel at an academic medical center. RESULTS: The modified survey instrument showed good reliability and validity among the study population. Most nursing staff exhibited a moderate to high level of cultural awareness and held positive opinions about nursing leadership and the work environment with regard to cultural issues. CONCLUSIONS: In increasingly diverse work environments, assessing the cultural awareness of nursing staff enables nurse leaders to evaluate efforts in promoting cultural competence and to identify specific areas in which to target staff development efforts and leadership training.