Cultural Intelligence in Nurses: Relationship with Social Interaction

Nurses are the front line of patient care and must be able to communicate with patients of different cultures. This study assessed the relationship between nurse’s cultural intelligence and social interaction.

This study was a descriptive correlation study wherein 352 nurses working in hospitals of Kerman University of Medical Sciences participated. The instruments used included demographic, cultural intelligence and the fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation- Behavior. The collected data were entered into SPSS software, version 22, and descriptive statistics, correlation, independent t-test, ANOVA and Scheffe post hoc tests were used for analysis.

The results showed that the mean score of cultural intelligence in nurses was 79.83 and mediocre. Mean score of social interaction was 18.79 and low. Also, between the mean score of cultural intelligence and social interaction in nurses a positive and significant correlation existed (P<0.001). The results of this study also showed that the overall score of cultural intelligence and social interaction was higher in men than in women.

There is a significant correlation between social interactions and cultural intelligence in nurses. Thus enhancing the cultural intelligence can increase their social interaction in patients with cultural diversity.