Introduction: Cultural competence is essential for nurses to enhance the quality of care and reduce care inequity in diverse cultures. Throughout the world, populations are resettling to different regions for various reasons, necessitating the importance of teaching cultural skills to nursing students. This study determined the cultural competence of Vietnamese undergraduate nursing students and the factors influencing cultural competence.
Method: The cross-sectional study was performed with 169 undergraduate nursing students in Vietnam. Data on cultural competence, measured by the Nurse Cultural Competence Scale (NCCS), empathy, and self-efficacy was collected. Multiple regression analysis examined the factors influencing cultural competency.
Results: A positive relationship was found between self-efficacy and cultural competence (β = 0.47, p < .001), between empathy and self-efficacy (p < .001), and a negative relationship between ethnicity and empathy (p < .05).
Discussion: Improving undergraduate nursing students' cultural competency is essential in education programs; cultural competency training focuses on strengthening self-efficacy and empathy.
Keywords: cultural competence; empathy; self-efficacy; undergraduate nursing students.