141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

292276
Evaluating cultural competence in nursing students

Monday, November 4, 2013

Colleen Marzilli, DNP, MBA, RN-BC, CCM, APHN-BC, CNE , College of Nursing and Health Sciences, The University of Texas at Tyler, Tyler, TX
Background and issue: There is little research that explores nursing students' attitudes towards culture. Awareness and desire are key aspects in providing culturally competent care, and there is a need to identify what, if any awareness and desire nursing students have towards providing culturally competent care. Cultural competency is important because cultural competent health care providers have the potential to reduce racial and ethnic health disparities which comprise a total annual economic impact of approximately 24 billion dollars. Description: The study uses a qualitative analysis of student journals regarding culture and cultural competency to determine qualities related to the cultural attitudes of undergraduate nursing students. The journal consists of a prompt-driven format to guide students in exploring their own awareness and desire related to the process of becoming culturally competent. Lessons learned: Seven key themes are identified in the qualitative analysis of the student journals. The awareness of cultural needs is identified as is a desire to provide culturally competent care. Recommendation: Based on the analysis of the qualitative data, it is recommended that specific culturally competency education be included in nursing education. There is a need to replicate the study on a larger scale across a variety of nursing schools.

Learning Areas:
Diversity and culture
Other professions or practice related to public health
Public health or related education
Public health or related nursing

Learning Objectives:
Discuss the level of cultural competence in nursing students Identify strategies to evaluate cultural competence in nursing students

Keywords: Cultural Competency, Nurses

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I conduct research on cultural competency education. I teach students cultural competency education.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.