Cultural competence is a crucial requirement of nursing to promote caring for patients with diverse backgrounds. The purpose of this study was to develop a cultural competence course and to evaluate the effects of the course on undergraduate nursing students in Vietnam. A concurrent triangulation mixed-methods study was adopted using quantitative and qualitative data sources. Sixty-six nursing students were recruited for the following groups: cultural competence course with field experience (n = 22), stand-alone cultural competence course (n = 22), and a control group (n = 22). The findings indicated that significant group by time interactions in total cultural competence score (F = 66.73, p < 0.001) were found. Participants’ perceptions reflected on three categories: (a) journey to cultural competence, (b) satisfaction of cultural competence course, and (c) suggestions for improvements. No statistically significant differences between the two experimental groups were revealed, but “obtaining cultural experiences” and “expanding understanding of cultural competence through field experience” were immersed from participants having field experience. It is vital to expand cultural competency education into nursing curricula to enhance nursing students’ perspective of culturally competent care.

Background: Non-adherence to sodium restricted diet has been observed in many patients with heart failure (HF) around the world. About 99% of the adult Vietnamese population consumes the double amount of table salt than recommended 5 g per day by the World Health Organization. Therefore, the study aimed to investigate perceived benefits and barriers to sodium restriction including associated factors in Vietnamese patients with HF. Methodology: The cross-sectional descriptive study, collected data with the interviewed questionnaires including demographic characteristics and clinical information, Belief about Dietary Compliance Scale, the Dutch Heart Failure Knowledge Scale, New York Heart Association Functional Classification, and the Dietary Salt Reduction Self-Care Behavior Scale. Results: A total of 58 patients with HF were included when the mean score of sodium restriction behavior recorded was 32.93 ± 4.66. The total perceived benefit score was 28.72 ± 4.75, whereas the total perceived barrier score was 14.21 ± 2.02. The patients with ≥ 12 months of HF duration had a significantly higher level of perceived benefits on sodium restriction than the shorter HF duration (p=0.001). Moreover, a significant positive correlation between perceived benefits score and behavior of sodium restriction (r=0.534; p<0.001) was found, whereas a negative correlation between perceived barriers score and sodium restriction behavior was evident (r=-0.453; p<0.001). Conclusion: The current findings supported that the Vietnamese people with HF who perceived more benefits and less barriers to sodium restriction had the better sodium restriction behavior. This information is helpful for nurses and other health care providers in the HF setting to implement tailored interventions aiming to increase perceived benefits/reduce perceived barriers, especially among people with early HF duration.

Background: Application of appropriate teaching and learning strategies is a necessary way of influencing student learning outcomes. The purpose of this study was to explore students' views, perceptions and the effects of these on different teaching and learning approaches. Methods: Twenty one nursing students who were exposed to different teaching strategies were selected as a purposive sample for this study. Qualitative analysis of feedback from six individual interviews and two focus groups encompass a rich data set to inform nurse educators about student perceptions regarding impact of teaching approaches on their learning outcomes. Results: Participants indicated advantages and disadvantages of each of the teaching strategies and recommended suggestions for improving learning outcomes. The findings also described how a student's preferred learning strategy impacted on learning outcomes when criteria for surface, deep and strategic approaches were taken into consideration.Conclusions: This research provides evidence for educators on the effects of innovative teaching and learning strategies in nursing education. It also provides preliminary feedback on the extent of achievements on the movement towards national reforms in higher education.

If we are to continue meeting partnership goals, we must recognize that partnerships should evolve according to the goals of HueUMP nursing faculty and the context of nursing in Vietnam.

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