A virtual training program for improving cultural competence among academic nurse educators

Abstract

Background Everyday, nursing students interact with culturally diverse clients. Nursing education recognizes that cultural competence is a necessary outcome of nursing programs. Nurse educators expect all nursing students to provide culturally congruent care to multicultural clients. Therefore, nurse educators must be culturally competent in order to prepare culturally competent nursing students for clinical practice. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of virtual training program on the cultural competence of academic nurse educators. Methods This randomized controlled study included nurse educators working in six nursing schools affiliated with medical universities of Kerman province in southeastern Iran. Sixty-nine nurse educators were randomly assigned to the intervention (n = 35) and control (n = 34) groups. The training program consisted of three 2-hour sessions for a month. Cultural Diversity Questionnaire for Nurse Educators Revised (CDQNE-R) was used to evaluate the cultural competence of educators before and one month after the virtual training program. Results Both the intervention (3.29 ± 0.58) and control (3.24 ± 0.58) groups demonstrated a similar level of cultural competence before the training program (t = 0.05, p = 0.95). After the training, the intervention group showed a significant increase in cultural competence (3.80 ± 0.7) compared to the control group (3.23 ± 0.67). This improvement resulted in culturally competent participants becoming culturally proficient, as evidenced by a large effect size (t = -4.76, p = 0.001). Conclusion The virtual training program had a positive impact on the cultural competence of nurse educators. Given the importance of cultural competence in nursing education, continuing education programs that focus on strengthening the cultural competence of nurse educators should be prioritized. The experiences gained from implementing virtual training programs can serve as a valuable resource for nurse educators seeking to enhance their cultural competence.

Designing, implementing, and evaluating a mobile app-based cultural care training program to improve the cultural capacity and humility of nursing students

“…The qualitative findings of the study revealed that after undergoing lectures with standardized patient simulation, students experienced a decrease in anxiety when interacting with culturally diverse patients, and their comfort levels in patient interactions improved [ 5 ]. These findings align with similar studies conducted in Iran, which also demonstrated the effect of virtual cultural care training on the cultural competence of undergraduate students [ 10 ], postgraduate students [ 16 ], and nursing professors [ 26 ]. These studies suggest that given the current globalized world and the increasing prevalence of medical tourism, nursing and midwifery schools should prioritize cultural care education at all educational levels.…”

“…This systematic instructional model proved to be effective in guiding the development process of the mobile app-based cultural care training program. In contrast, previous studies that developed cultural care training programs did not adhere to any instructional models and often lacked reporting on their development processes [ 5 , 16 , 26 , 34 – 36 ].…”

“…Students continue to learn about cultural care through an informal program. Similarly, nurses acquire cultural competence and humility through their work experience in healthcare settings [ 26 ].…”

“…During the design stage, the learning modules, content, and educational strategies for the mobile application were determined. The educational content was developed following a review of the literature [ 6 , 10 , 14 , 17 , 21 , 22 , 26 – 29 ] and was presented in the form of 16 modules in the Persian language. These modules included one general module covering cultural care and an overview of the Purnell model, 12 modules focusing on the cultural domains of the Purnell model, and 3 modules based on Foronda’s rainbow model of cultural humility.…”

Innovative cultural care training: the impact of flipped classroom methods on critical cultural competencies in psychiatric nursing: a quasi-experimental study

“…Studies conducted in Iran have also supported the effectiveness of virtual cultural care training in enhancing the cultural competence of undergraduate students [ 22 ], postgraduate students [ 2 ], and nurse educators [ 21 ]. A review study (2019) focused on fostering cultural competence in nursing education through a values-based learning approach.…”