A Comparative Study on Cultural Competence of Healthcare Professionals in Primary and Secondary Healthcare Institutions: A Cross Sectional Study

BACKGROUND/AIMS: It is noteworthy that there are limited studies examining the cultural competence levels of the multidisciplinary team in primary and secondary care. The aim of the study was to compare the level of cultural competence in healthcare professionals working in primary and secondary healthcare institutions and to determine factors related to the level of cultural competence. MATERIALS And METHODS: A cross-sectional survey design was used to collect data. Totally, 87 healthcare professionals working in primary healthcare services and 348 nurses working in secondary healthcare services between March-May 2018 participated in this cross-sectional study. Data were collected using descriptive information form, the Nurse Cultural Competence Scale form in Turkish, and the Primary Health Care Professionals' Cultural Competency Scale. RESULTS: Mean score of primary healthcare professionals in terms of cultural competence was found to be 66.58 +/- 13.47 while mean score of Secondary Health Care Nurses was 67.44 +/- 13.27. No difference was found between two groups. The level of cultural competence in primary healthcare professionals was increased by factors such as the fact that working time was short in primary healthcare services (odds ratio: 0.81), going abroad for business or touristic purposes (odds ratio: 0.14), meeting individuals/families from different cultures in healthcare services (odds ratio: 0.14), and the satisfaction of providing health service to migrants/asylum seekers (odds ratio: 0.15). The level of cultural competence in secondary care nurses was increased by the satisfaction of working with migrants and asylum seekers. CONCLUSION: It was found that cultural competence of healthcare professionals in primary and secondary care was at medium level. It might be beneficial to brief healthcare workers during undergraduate study and in-service training on different cultures and to encourage them to meet people from different cultures in order to increase their cultural competence.