Comparison of cultural competence levels of health employees working in primary and secondary healthcare institutions in Adiyaman province center

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the cultural competence levels of healthcare professionals working in primary and secondary healthcare institutions in the city center of Adıyaman. Method: The population of this cross-sectional study included 500 nurses in Adıyaman University Training and Research Hospital and 90 healthcare professionals in all primary healthcare institutions (PHI) affiliated with Adıyaman Provincial Directorate of Health in the city center. The sample included 87 healthcare professionals in PHI and 348 nurses in secondary healthcare institutions (SHI) who were on duty at their respective institutions between March and May 2018 and agreed to participate. Data were collected from the Descriptive Information Form, the Nurse Cultural Competence Scale-Turkish (NCCS-T) and the Primary Health Care Professionals' Cultural Competency Scale (PHCP-CCS). Results: The cultural competence score was 66.58 for the healthcare professionals in PHI and 67.44 for those in SHI. Situations like having 10 or fewer years of working experience in primary care (OR: 0.81), having travelled outside of Turkey on business or on holiday (OR: 0.14), frequently encountering clients from another culture at their work place (OR: 0.14), being satisfied with working with migrants and refugees in primary care (OR: 0.15), and being satisfied with working with migrants and refugees in SHI raised the cultural competences of the healthcare professionals in PHI. Conclusion: It was revealed that cultural competences of the healthcare professionals in both primary and secondary healthcare institutions was moderate and there was no difference between the cultural competences of both groups. Cultural competence of healthcare professionals in primary and secondary healthcare institutions should be improved during the education process and on duty through training programs, structural adjustment, and supports. Key words: Cultural competence, primary healthcare facility, secondary healthcare facility, nurse.