Title: Nursing students' perceptions of cultural competence

Authors: Hsiu-Chin Chen, Dianne McAdams-Jones

Addresses: Utah Valley University, 800 West University Parkway, MATC Building 203, Orem, Utah 84058, USA. ' Utah Valley University, 800 West University Parkway, MATC Building 203, Orem, Utah 84058, USA

Abstract: Cultural competence is becoming more a necessity than an option due to the change in the face of cultural populations in the USA. Nurses care for many populations of people and therefore their level of cultural awareness is paramount to the care they deliver. Cultural competence in the nursing profession begins with the nursing student. A university engaged a group of nursing students in a free clinic which served cultures of people not indigenous to the native culture. Student nurses perceived the experience revealing of the care they provided and revealing of the affect of that care on the recipients.

Keywords: learning; service education; cultural education; diverse cultures; nursing students; student perceptions; cultural competence; nurses; cultural populations; USA; United States; cultural awareness; universities; higher education; free clinics; non- indigenous peoples; native cultures; care recipients; community health; Utah; behavioural research; healthcare research.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBHR.2011.041048

International Journal of Behavioural and Healthcare Research, 2011 Vol.2 No.3, pp.265 - 276

Published online: 30 Sep 2014 *

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