Using an eclectic model to educate students about cultural influences on the nurse-patient relationship

This article describes how the concepts of cultural awareness, cultural sensitivity, and cultural competence are integrated into the nursing curriculum at Lehman College, City University of New York. A culturally diverse student population engaged in lectures, classroom exercises, and clinical experiences in order to learn the ideas and imperatives of cultural diversity in nursing care. The exercises were problem-based learning experiences guided by a university-developed model for teaching students to understand cultural diversity. The model is derived from Leininger's comparative cultural caring model and Paterson and Zderad's humanistic nursing model. By observing differences and similarities among diverse cultures, students learned that the assignment of cultural attributes is an inexact process and should be organized as hints rather than as certainties. Students also learned the importance of integrating cultural awareness, cultural sensitivity, and cultural competence into their nursing care.