Intercultural communication competence of healthcare professionals caring for patients from diverse cultures

Objective: This study was conducted to examine the cultural competence levels of healthcare professionals who provide care and treatment to patients from different cultures. Method: The study is a cross-sectional survey study conducted on 280 healthcare professionals (nurses, physicians, paramedics, technical support staff) working at Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University Hospital. Participants' demographic characteristics, knowledge of working life and perceptions of cultural competences were evaluated using various scales. Findings: The findings of the study showed that the majority of the participants (83.9%) wanted to care for or treat patients from different cultures, but only 37.9% had received training on cultural competence. Knowing a foreign language was found to be an important factor in the perception of cultural competence. Conclusion: The results of this study underline the importance of cultural competence and communication skills in the health sector and emphasise the need for training to develop these competencies, especially for nurses, in order to provide effective care to patients from different cultural backgrounds. The importance of embracing cultural diversity and promoting equality in health services has once again come to the fore with the findings of this study. Increasing cultural competency trainings for healthcare professionals will improve the quality of healthcare services and reduce inequalities in healthcare services.