The relationship between cultural competence, empathic tendency, and caring behaviors of nurses: A cross sectional study

Good cultures competency, especially empathy, skills and positive attitudes among nurses promote effective intercultural communication. This can reduce discrimination, isolation, and difficulties in interactions with patients. The current research aimed to investigate the relationship between the cultural competence, empathic tendency, and caregiving behaviors of nurses, also it is the identification of variables that predict maintenance behaviors. The descriptive correlational study was performed in hospitals with a high foreign patient portfolio located in the center of Istanbul province. “The Personal Information Form,” “Cultural Competence Scale,” “Empathic Tendency Scale,” and “Caring Behaviors Inventory-24” were utilized to collect data. The low negative correlation was revealed between the “Cultural Competence Scale” and “Empathic Tendency Scale” scores of nurses ( r = −0.123, P = .011), there was a low positive correlation between the “Cultural Competence Scale” and “Caring Behaviors Inventory-24” total scores of nurses ( r = 0.158, P < .001). The moderate positive correlation was found between the “Empathic Tendency Scale” score and the “Caring Behaviors Inventory-24” total score ( r = 0.262, P < .001). The regression analysis determined that working duration, cultural competence, and empathic tendency explained 20.3% of the total variance in the caregiving behaviors of nurses. The study found positive correlation between cultural competence, empathic tendencies, and caregiving behaviors. Also, the study found negative correlation between between the “Cultural Competence Scale” and “Empathic Tendency Scale” scores of nurses.