Factors Predicting Cultural Competence among Nursing Personnel in the Eastern Economic Corridor of Thailand: A Cross-Sectional Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.60099/prijnr.2026.276733Keywords:
Cultural competence, Cultural health values, Eastern Economic Corridor, Nursing personnel, Organizational policy, ThailandAbstract
The Eastern Economic Corridor of Thailand has experienced rapid economic growth and significant immigration, which has led to greater cultural diversity and poses a challenge for healthcare. Nursing personnel require strong cultural competence to meet the diverse health needs of this population. This cross-sectional study aimed to examine the level of cultural competence and its predicting factors among nursing personnel in the Eastern Economic Corridor. The sample consisted of 353 nursing personnel, including nursing students, nursing instructors, and professional nurses, selected using simple random sampling from universities and tertiary hospitals in the Eastern region. Data were collected between March and June 2024 using four instruments: a Personal Information Form, the Nurse Cultural Competence Scale, the Cultural Health Values Questionnaire, and the Perceived Organizational Policies Regarding Cultural Care Questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis were employed to analyze the data.
The results showed that most participants (94.13%) demonstrated a relatively high level of cultural competence. Five factors significantly predicted cultural competence: cultural health values, perceived organizational policies related to cultural care, participation in cultural care meetings/training, work experience, and ability to communicate in other languages, with cultural health values being the strongest predictor. Together, these factors explained 36% of the variance in cultural competence. Since cultural competency levels are relatively high, these should be reinforced and maintained. Additionally, nurse administrators and educators should emphasize cultural health values, develop clear organizational policies, and implement structured cultural care training to strengthen nurses’ ability to provide culturally responsive care to diverse client populations in the Eastern Economic Corridor.
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