Engaging Nursing Students in a Rural Native American Community to Facilitate Cultural Consciousness

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Cultural Competency in Healthcare
• Global Health Workforce Development

Background:

• Integrating cultural consciousness into nursing education is crucial for preparing a diverse global nursing workforce.
• Cultural consciousness in healthcare delivery combines clinical expertise, sensitivity, and cultural understanding.
• A gap often exists between nursing students' expectations and the realities of diverse patient populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a teaching strategy aimed at enhancing nursing students' cultural consciousness.
• To assess the impact of a 1-week field experience in a Native American community on students' cultural awareness.
• To explore how immersion influences nursing students' perceptions and skills in cross-cultural healthcare settings.

Main Methods:

• An intrinsic single case study design was employed.
• The study involved 30 nursing students during a 1-week immersion experience in a rural Native American community.
• Data were collected through in situ clinical reflections and end-of-course reflections.

Main Results:

• Most students encountered a mismatch between their expectations and the experienced realities.
• Students demonstrated improvements in clinical assessment, technical nursing skills, and intercultural communication.
• Two-thirds of the students successfully integrated preconceptions with immersion experiences, showing emergent cultural consciousness.

Conclusions:

• Field experiences in diverse communities are vital for developing nursing students' cultural consciousness.
• Immersion challenges can lead to significant growth in intercultural competence and healthcare skills.
• Nursing curricula should incorporate experiential learning to foster a culturally sensitive and effective global nursing workforce.