Are personality characteristics of Clinical Nurse Leader graduate nursing students related to culturally competent nursing care?

Abstract

Health policies increasingly address the need to eliminate disparities in healthcare and it is imperative that nurses identify how they contribute to achievement of that goal.  The purpose of this descriptive, cross-sectional research was to identify if there is relationship between a core personality trait, core self-evaluations, and confidence in the ability of beginning  graduate nursing students (N = 71) in a Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) track to deliver culturally competent nursing care.  A partial correlation, controlling for age, pre-licensure nursing education program, race, and satisfaction with current nursing position, found that core self-evaluations were significantly related to the three subscales on the transcultural self-efficacy scale, specifically: cognitive  (r = .417, p = .001); affective (r = .479, p = .000); and practical (r = .521, p = .000) self-efficacy.  The relatively low core self-evaluations for this group of nurses in the early phases of graduate education for the CNL role compared to other samples is less than desirable for persons who are embracing a new nursing role that requires leadership skills to inspire followers. Although core self-evaluations are a relatively stable personality characteristic, educational programs could incorporate strategies to improve core self-evaluations in order to assist professionals to appraise their workplace challenges in a more positive framework.