The determination of intercultural sensitivity levels of nursing students

The research was conducted as a descriptive study to determine the intercultural sensitivity levels of students studying in the Department of Nursing at the Faculty of Health Sciences, Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University and at the Faculty of Nursing, Gazi University. The participants of the study were the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade students studying in these schools. The sample was not selected in the study. It was aimed to reach 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade nursing students and 1106 students agreed to participate in the study. A questionnaire and the "Intercultural Sensitivity Scale (ISS)" were used to collect data between 12/15/2023-31/05/2024. The questionnaire included questions to determine the sociodemographic characteristics of the students and questions about the concept of culture, their experiences of living with individuals from different cultures, their clinical experiences with individuals from different cultures, their feelings and behaviors towards individuals from different cultures, and the education they received regarding the care of individuals from different cultures. The data obtained were evaluated using median, minimum and maximum values, percentages, numbers, Kruskal-Wallis, and Mann-Whitney U test in SPSS 27.0 package program. The study found that the median score of the students was 87.0 (Min: 28, Max: 120). It was determined that in the intercultural sensitivity levels of students, there is a difference between the groups in terms of sociodemographic characteristics such as their grade, gender, the ability to communicate in a language other than Turkish, being together with people from different cultures, having friends from different cultures, providing care to patients from different cultures in clinical practice, the status of receiving intercultural nursing care training and the status of learning cultural characteristics while providing treatment and care services to a patient from a different culture (p<0.05). In conclusion, it was found that the intercultural sensitivity level of the students was above the medium level.