Bandura’s (1986) self-efficacy theo

Bandura’s (1986) self-efficacy theory is the important theoretical basis for this study. Bandura’s self-efficacy refers to people’s confidence or belief in their ability to achieve behavioral goals in specific fields such as transcultural nursing care. Transcultural self-efficacy is defined as “a nurse’s confidence when providing nursing care for patients from different cultural backgrounds” (Jimenez, Contreras, Shellman, Gonzalez, & Bernal, 2006). Some studies (Bernal & Froman, 1993; Geissler, 1992; Leininger, 1991; Rooda, 1993) have indicated that a nurse’s lack of perceived transcultural self-efficacy will cause patients with cultural differences to feel discriminated against and miscommunicated with and can lead to incorrect diagnoses and invalid nursing interventions. One study showed that nurses’ lack of perceived transcultural self-efficacy can cause increased depression and pain in patients (Davidhizar & Giger, 2004). Jeffreys (2010a) used Bandura’s (1986) model to propose that an individual with a high level of perceived self-efficacy (confidence) will take the initiative to seek knowledge that improves personal transcultural nursing skill and cultural competence. Nurses must increase their level of transcultural self-efficacy to improve their cultural competence to care for an increasing number of patients with cultural differences (Coffman, Shellman, & Bernal, 2004; Leininger, 1991).