cultural entities due to various professional and specialized teams that operate within them,
therefore, creating subcultures within them. A subculture is typically comprised of people who
have a distinct identity and yet are related to a larger cultural group. Individuals in subcultures
share same ethnic origin and physical characteristics with the larger cultural group however,
they conform to norms, values and practices affiliated to their occupational and societal groups
[3].Due to globalization of healthcare, nurses and midwives throughout the world are
increasingly expected to come into contact with patients, families and colleagues from diverse
cultures and backgrounds [5], consequently, providing transcultural nursing. The concept
transcultural nursing was coined by Madeline Leininger in the 1950s, hence the development of
Theory of Transcultural Nursing. The theory emphasized that patient care and communication
exhibited by nurses should actively incorporates the patient’s background, values and beliefs
into every step of the nursing process [6]. It also involves associating differences and similarities
between cultures and relates them to caring values and life practices in order to envisage
individual’s care needs and promote culturally congruent care. It focuses on the universality of
human caring and analysis of diversity as well as dynamics of world in relation to human beliefs,
behaviors and their caring values [7]. Leininger appealed for nurses to develop knowledge on
and to possess ability for provision of culturally competent care [8]. Although the ultimate aim
of nursing should be to provide a caring service that respects people’s cultural values and
lifestyles, it is also influenced by nurses’ own values, beliefs and customs since they have own
cultures that are different from patients [9]. Therefore, the nurse’s self-awareness can be the
starting point to understand the patient’s culturally and master the skill of providing culturally
competent care. Through clinical nursing practice, nursing students become part of the
healthcare and therefore expected to be culturally competent when providing transcultural
nursing care. According to Çingöl et al., [10], receiving culturally appropriate healthcare service
is a human right, and every individual has the right to receive nursing care in accordance with
their culture. It is therefore expected that health professions education prepares well equipped
graduates who adopt a neutral and positive approach to provide quality care tailored to cultural
contexts of different people. A review by Qui and Jiang [11] revealed that nursing students
benefits from transcultural nursing by learning global nursing knowledge and experience cross-
cultural interpersonal relationships. The same review also revealed that nursing students are
prone to psychological problems and have encountered language problems during transcultural
nursing. Other challenges of provision of transcultural care experienced by nursing students are
intrapersonal struggle, cultural conflicts, varied expressions of discomforts such as pain and
suffering, as well as personal and organizational constraints [12]. In a study by Okeya [13],
findings revealed that nursing students lacked confidence, sufficient knowledge and experiences
required to provide quality care for ethnic minority patients who are from diverse cultures.
Namibia is a multicultural society with 13 ethnic groups that practice diverse cultures. Of the 13
groups, there is a Kavango ethnic group which predominantly occupies Kavango east and west
regions, which is further divided into five sub-ethnic groups namely: Mbukushu, Sambyu,
Rukwangali, Mbunza and Gciriku. Rundu town in Kavango east region has recently become an, Two nurses engage in conversation in a healthcare setting. One wears scrubs, the other a traditional dress. Corridor with natural light is visible. Emphasizes cultural and professional interaction
