PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF THE CULTURAL AWARENESS SCALE NORTHERN CYPRUS SAMPLE

Purpose: The study was carried out a descriptive-correlational to determine the validity and reliability of the "Cultural Awareness Scale" on nursing students studying in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Material and Methods: The research was carried out with 559 students studying in a Faculty of Nursing located in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus where medium of instruction is Turkish. Data were collected with Cultural Awareness Scale and demographic questionnaire. Data were analysed content validity index, factor analysis, cronbach's alpha, split-half and item-total correlation. Results: The student mean age was 22.38, + 2.67. Of all the students, 71.4 % (n = 399) were female, 85.5% (n = 478) did not take inter-cultural nursing lessons, and 62.3% (n = 348) gave patients from different cultures care. The scale consisted of five subscales accounting for 59.4 % of the total variance. The factor loading of items varied from 0.31 to 0.88. In CFA, all fit indices are greater than 0.90. The RMSEA value is less than 0.08. All factor loading was above 0.30. The Cronbach alpha of co-efficient (CAC) of the overall scale and sub-scales were 0.86, 0.86, 0.89, 0.89, 0.87 and 0.93 respectively. Conclusion: By using this scale; researchers may measure the student cultural awareness levels, may create course curricula, and examine the change in students' cultural awareness over the years. Crosscultural comparisons and experimental studies can be made using the scale.