Perceived Transcultural Self-Efficacy of Nurses in General Hospitals in Guangzhou, China

BACKGROUND Conflicts arising from cultural diversity among patients and hospital staff in China have become intense. Hospitals have an urgent need to improve transcultural self-efficacy of nurses for providing effective transcultural nursing. OBJECTIVE The purpose of the research was to (a) evaluate the current status of perceived transcultural self-efficacy of nurses in general hospitals in Guangzhou, China; (b) explore associations between demographic characteristics of nurses and their perceived transcultural self-efficacy; and (c) assess the reliability and validity of scores on the Chinese version of the Transcultural Self-Efficacy Tool (TSET). METHODS A cross-sectional survey of registered nurses from three general hospitals was conducted. Quota and convenience sampling were used. Participants provided demographic information and answered questions on the TSET. RESULTS A total of 1,156 registered nurses took part. Most nurses had a moderate level of self-efficacy on the Cognitive (87.9%), Practical (87%), and Affective (89.2%) TSET subscales. Nurses who were older; who had more years of work experience, higher professional titles, higher incomes, and a minority background; and who were officially employed (not temporary positions) had higher perceived transcultural self-efficacy. Reliability estimated using Cronbach's alpha was .99 for the total TSET score; reliability for the three subscales ranged from .97 to .98. Confirmatory factor analysis of TSET scores showed good fit with a three-factor model. CONCLUSION The results of this study can provide insights and guidelines for hospital nursing management to facilitate design of in-service education systems to improve transcultural self-efficacy of nurses.