Increasing internationalisation and diversity in the healthcare workforce affects healthcare practices and systems worldwide (Freeman et al. 2012). It is imperative that current and future healthcare workers have the necessary competency to work in diverse healthcare settings (Levi 2009). Healthcare students from diverse backgrounds continue to experience challenges during completion of their clinical placements which are often related to cultural differences and a lack of language proficiency (Pitkäjärvi 2012 Edgecombe et al. 2013 O`Reilly & Milner 2015 Mikkonen et al. 2016). It is imperative that the factors that affect mentor´ competence in mentoring culturally and linguistically diverse healthcare students are identified in order to facilitate the implementation of effective support structures and educational programmes to improve mentor´ competency.
