In small rural hospitals, hiring and retaining nurses are difficult. Concerns about quality of patient care are increased as community population shifts occur and the nursing shortage increases. Findings of an online survey suggest exposure to diverse people and situations may increase cultural self-efficacy.
To increase retention, administrators may consider hiring nurses with rural backgrounds and provide vicarious cultural experiences. New methods of increasing self-efficacy are needed in addition to didactic materials. New pedagogies outcome research needs to be conducted. Social story sharing, video case studies, standardized patient simulations, ongoing virtual simulations and peer news boards could be explored. Another research question is, What dose of vicarious exposure is needed to increase self-efficacy?
Pre- or postjob satisfaction surveys would also provide insight into how important educational support is. Organizational support was not associated with self- efficacy but questions about professional development experiences were not explored. Because the population shift is expected to continue in both urban and rural communities, the now White majority is expected to be the largest minority in 2055 (Smith & Faegin, 1995). Understanding how cultural self-efficacy develops is needed to design effective education and support structures. This study suggests that personal diversity experience may be important to both self-efficacy and job satisfaction issues.