Cultural Competence among Nurses in a Tertiary Hospital in Saudi Arabia: A Mixed-Methods Study

Background: Saudi Arabias public health network is both diverse and fluid, a setting in which frontline nurses must routinely translate cultural acuity into clinical action. Strikingly little empirical work, however, has pin-pointed the exact gap between theoretical awareness and everyday practice.Objective: This inquiry set out to measure nurses cultural readiness in a major tertiary hospital and to unearth the social, professional, and institutional forces that either shore up or undermine that readiness.Methods: A convergent-mixed design mixed-survey and interview streams-was put to use; 250 questionnaires were paired with in-depth conversations involving 20 volunteer staff members. Survey yields fed descriptive tabs and correlation tests; interview transcripts were handled by thematic content coding.Results: Respondents exhibited solid head-level awareness and sensitivity scores-yet hand-level skills lagged, and the difference was statistically meaningful. Years on the job, nation of origin, and the clinical unit where care was delivered each emerged as significant predictors (p < 0.05). Qualitative stories pointed to persistent language chasms, gender-linked expectations in treatment, and a shortage of top-down backing from hospital policy outlets.Conclusion: A lasting uptick in cultural capability is likely only if managers embed continual training, revise policy blueprints, and back staff with routine resources. Such steps would, in practical terms, close the current loop between knowing and doing.