on Teaching of Patients and Nurses
on Education of Patients and Nurses
Increased diversity within the nursing student population holds both challenges and benefits to the educators, the students, and the patient. It has been long recognized that with growing globalization and rapidly growing minority populations, it is in the nursing profession’s best interest to recruit and train a diverse population of students to better meet the patient’s needs (Barbee & Gibson, 2001). These efforts have been successful, and the nursing student population since this time has gained rapidly in diversity from points of view of race or ethnicity, gender, age, educational and cultural background (AACN, 2013).
Some of the challenges facing educators with this change have involved such various areas such as the nature of the nurse training and education, an issue more difficult because of its history of valuing uniformity (Bednartz, Shim, & Doorenbos, 2010). Further challenges are differences in the students’ cultures and there own and simply the fear of appearing ignorant or prejudice. One of the running difficulties is cross-cultural communication issues. This can include differences in language, standards of treatment for others, and even classroom etiquette (Bednartz, Shim, & Doorenbos, 2010).
Yet this problem is not simply with nursing students, for nurses upon graduation will face similar issues when interacting with patients that do not share their same cultural and educational background. Bednartz, Shim, & Doorenbos suggest the following rubric to help build personal cultural capacity, that can equally serve educators as well as nurses interacting with patients: “1) Know thyself. 2) Think globally. 3) Act locally. 4) Find the keys. 4) Listen and learn” (2010). By applying this advice, gaps between diverse educators, students, and patients should narrow.
References
American Academy of Nursing (AACN). (2013). Fact sheet. Retrieved from
http://www.aacn.nche.edu/media-relations/diversityFS.pdf
Barbee, E. L., & Gibson, S. E. (2001). Our dismal progress: recruitment of non-whites into nursing. Journal of Nursing Education. 40: 243-45.
Bednartz, H., Shim, S., & Doorenbos, A. (2010). Cultural diversity in nursing education: Perils, pitfalls, and pearls. Journal of Nursing Education. 49: 253-60.
