Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to clarify the characteristics of Japanese and Korean nursing students’ intercultural sensitivity, which is important when caring for culturally and linguistically diverse patients. By investigating nursing students’ intercultural sensitivity across different countries with different value systems, we may grasp how nursing students can prepare for providing culturally competent, highquality care for patients with diverse backgrounds.
Methods: The participants were junior and senior nursing students at universities in Japan and Korea. The intercultural sensitivity scale (ISS) was administered to 379 students in both countries. The chi-square test and t-test were used to analyze differences in distribution and the mean scores for each country’s students. This study was approved by a university institutional review board.
Results: The total number of collected questionnaires (ratio) was 251 (66.2%), including 144 (90.6%) from Japan and 107 (48.6%) from Korea. With a maximum possible score of 120, the average ISS of nursing students in Japan was 78.5 (±8.7) and in Korea was 81.5 (±10.4). After analyzing the mean score in each ISS subscale, significant differences were examined in “Interaction confidence” and “Interaction attentiveness” between the two countries. The nursing students who had interacted with non-Japanese/ non-Korean patients in clinical practice and those with better English-speaking ability had significantly higher ISS (p<.005) in both countries.
Discussion: In this study, the total ISS of Japanese nursing students was lower than that of Korean nursing students, and was significantly lower in two subscales. To enhance the intercultural sensitivity of nursing students, opportunities to practice cross-cultural communication with patients with diverse culturally and linguistically background for clinical and volunteer experiences may be needed.