No abstract

Studies of organization need to be more theoretically informed, politically diverse and democratically practiced. The field would be enhanced by more robust encounters with three broad areas of inquiry: (1) contemporary theories of language, politics and subjectivity, which focus organizational studies on the constitution of identities, the practices of discourse and the arrangements of power; (2) analyses of gender, race and class, which call attention to diversities and inequalities within and between identities, languages, politics; and (3) democratic practices, which raise questions about our constituencies, our sources of data and our conventions of teaching and research.

In an environment of changing demographics and health care disparities, it is essential that nurses continue to develop competence in providing care across cultures. This article presents the findings of a pilot project to measure and compare self-reported cultural competence scores before and after participation in one of the core classes of a cultural competence curriculum. Cultural competence of the staff of a patient care unit (N = 98) was assessed prior to the class, at 3 months, and at 6 months posteducation using the Inventory for Assessing the Process of Cultural Competence Among Healthcare Professionals-Revised. The results demonstrated that following an educational intervention the participants self-reported a statistically significant increase (p = .03) in cultural competence within the category range of cultural awareness. Providing cultural competence education may better equip nurses to care for patients from diverse cultures.