Development and an Evaluation of Educational Program for Nurse Professionals: Cultural Competency in Cancer Prevention

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: This study aimed to develop and evaluate a nursing educational program improving nursing professional's cultural competency in cancer prevention. METHODS: An eight-hour long educational program was developed based on several preliminary research projects, one ethnography and three quantitative projects, to identify the educational needs among nursing students and professionals in Korea. Thirty two nursing professionals were recruited for a one group pretest-posttest design. Three questionnaires were used to measure cultural nursing knowledge about cancer prevention, cultural competency and perceived importance of nurses' quality. RESULTS: After completing the educational program, the clinical nurses showed a significant change in the mean score of the cultural nursing knowledge about cancer prevention from 4.78±2.01 to 8.81±1.52 (t=-8.48, p<.001) and the level of the cultural competency from 72.47±8.96 to 83.59±8.61 (t=-6.16, p<.001). Clinical nurses' perception of 'Communication ability with patients and family members' changed from 6th to 2nd most importance but 'Having a passion for the patient care' remained the most important perceived factor of nurses' quality after completing the educational program. CONCLUSION: The educational program developed was effective in improving nursing professional's cultural competency in cancer prevention. However, it needs to be improved more to be culturally specific to multi-cultural clients.