Purpose: To assess cultural competence among nursing students from nine countries to provide an international perspective on cultural competence. Design: A descriptive, cross-sectional design. Methods: A convenience sample of 2,163 nursing students from nine countries was surveyed using the Cultural Capacity Scale from April to November 2016. Results: The study found a moderate range of cultural competence among the students. The ability to teach and guide other nursing colleagues to display culturally appropriate behavior received the highest competence rating, while the ability to discuss differences between the client's health beliefs or behaviors and nursing knowledge with each client received the lowest competence rating. Differences in cultural competence were observed between students from different countries. Country of residence, gender, age, year of study, attendance at cultural-related training, the experience of taking care of patients from culturally diverse backgrounds and patients belonging to special population groups, and living in a multicultural environment were identified as factors affecting cultural competence. Conclusions: The international perspective of cultural competence among nursing students provided by this study serves as a vital preview of where nursing education currently stands in terms of providing the necessary preparatory competence in the cultural aspect of care. The variation of cultural competence among nursing students from different nations should serve as a cue for designing a focused yet multimodal nursing education program in guiding them to be culturally sensitive, culturally adaptive, and culturally motivated.

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BackgroundSexual assault poses a serious health problem to both the survivor and the health system. Experiencing sexual assault requires women to seek medical and psychological assistance as part of their journey towards recovery. This study examined the experiences of women who received post-sexual assault services from a specialised care centre within a provincial hospital.MethodsA qualitative, exploratory and contextual design was used to explore and describe experiences of women. Data were obtained through individual in-depth interviews from a total of 18 women aged between 18 and 55 years. Interviews were supplemented by the researcher’s field notes and audiotape recordings.ResultsFindings yielded two main themes: Women expressed their lived experiences of sexual assault characterised by different forms of trauma. The second theme was an expression of a need for safety and support.ConclusionWomen who experience sexual assault are left with devastating effects such as physical and psychological harm and social victimisation. There is also a need for safety and support towards the recovery of these women. This study recommends that professional practitioners involved in the management of sexual assault be sensitised regarding the ordeal experienced by women and stop perceiving survivors as crime scene ‘clients’ from whom only medico-legal evidence has to be collected. Professional practitioners and family members must be supportive, non-judgemental and considerate of the dignity of survivors. The establishment of sexual assault response teams (SART) is also recommended. There should also be inter-professional education for better coordination of services rendered to sexually assaulted women.

Peer review declarationThe publisher (AOSIS) endorses the South African 'National Scholarly Book Publishers Forum Best Practice for Peer Review of Scholarly Books'. The manuscript underwent an evaluation to compare the level of originality with other published works and was subjected to rigorous two-step peer review before publication, with the identities of the reviewers not revealed to the editor(s) or author(s). The reviewers were independent of the publisher, editor(s) and author(s). The publisher shared feedback on the similarity report and the reviewers' inputs with the manuscript's editor(s) or author(s) to improve the manuscript. Where the reviewers recommended revision and improvements, editor(s) or author(s) responded adequately to such recommendations. The reviewers commented positively on the scholarly merits of the manuscript and recommended that the book be published.

Peer review declarationThe publisher (AOSIS) endorses the South African 'National Scholarly Book Publishers Forum Best Practice for Peer Review of Scholarly Books'. The manuscript underwent an evaluation to compare the level of originality with other published works and was subjected to rigorous two-step peer review before publication, with the identities of the reviewers not revealed to the editor(s) or author(s). The reviewers were independent of the publisher, editor(s) and author(s). The publisher shared feedback on the similarity report and the reviewers' inputs with the manuscript's editor(s) or author(s) to improve the manuscript. Where the reviewers recommended revision and improvements, editor(s) or author(s) responded adequately to such recommendations. The reviewers commented positively on the scholarly merits of the manuscript and recommended that the book be published.