Cultural Intelligence and Professional competencies among Nurses: A cross-sectional Study

Background: Since nurses come across patients from diverse cultures, cultural intelligence is 
reflected as an imperative competence for nurses. Pioneer healthcare organizations have a duty to 
enhance the professional nurses’ competencies. Objective: To examine how cultural intelligence 
relates to nurses' perceptions of their own professional competencies. Settings: The study was carried 
out in in all in-patient care units at Shoubrakhit General Hospital. Subjects: All of the 460 registered 
nurses who met the inclusion criteria, had worked in the study's allocated settings for at least six months, 
and were available at the time of data collection were included. They indicated a willingness to take 
part in the study. Tools: two tools were used. Tool one: “the Cultural Intelligence Scale (CQS)". Tool 
two: “Competency Inventory for Registered Nurses (CIRN)". Results: The findings indicated that nurses 
have a moderate level of professional competence and cultural intelligence. Additionally, the results 
demonstrated a statistically significant positive correlation between educational level, nursing 
experience, and working units and professional competence as well as cultural intelligence. 
Conclusion: Cultural intelligence and professional competences have a strong positive significant 
association that is statistically significant positive correlation. Recommendations: training sessions 
should be undertaken to enhance cultural intelligence and professional nursing competencies through
official and unofficial training of nurses’ cognitive and behavioral skills. Hospital and nurse managers 
along with all nurses should perform a cultural competence self-assessment periodically to determine 
own strengths and weaknesses. Nurses should be rewarded and motivated for obtaining continuous 
education certificates in cultural competence. Nurses should develop communication and language 
barriers as language is the key to accessing any cultural values, beliefs, and viewpoints. Online 
networking and social media can have a great influence on cultivating nurses’ cultural competency and 
awareness and keeping them up-to-date with cultural competency concerns.