The effect of ethnocentrism and moral sensitivity on intercultural sensitivity in nursing students, descriptive cross-sectional research study

Background: Factors affecting intercultural sensitivity and care are becoming an increasingly important issue due to ethnic diversity. Nurses play a crucial role in care and therefore should keep up with this trend and improve their intercultural sensitivity. Objective and design: This descriptive cross-sectional study investigated the effects of ethnocentrism and moral sensitivity on intercultural sensitivity in nursing students. Methods and participants: Data were collected using a demographic characteristics questionnaire and the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale, Generalized Ethnocentrism Scale, and Moral Sensitivity Scale. The sample consisted of 1343 nursing students. The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to determine correlations between scale scores. Multiple linear regression was used to determine the effects of ethnocentrism, moral sensitivity, and demographic characteristics on intercultural sensitivity. Results: Intercultural sensitivity was found to be negatively correlated with ethnocentrism and positively correlated with moral sensitivity. Ethnocentrism predicted intercultural sensitivity more than moral sensitivity. Ethnocentrism and moral sensitivity explained 16.8% of the total variance of intercultural sensitivity. However, ethnocentrism affected intercultural sensitivity more than moral sensitivity did (beta = −0.406). Conclusion: Nursing education should adopt strategies to reduce ethnocentrism by helping students develop cultural competence and intercultural sensitivity. Such education can equip nurses to provide higher quality care to patients of different cultural backgrounds.