Black Nursing Students: Strategies for Academic Success

Improved Health in Ethnically/Culturally Diverse Patients through Enhanced Cultural Competency in Nurse Wellness Outcomes Educators

“…A review of the recent literature reveals that the quandary of caring for diverse populations has been studied in many countries, including: Australia (Allen, Brown, Duff, Nesbitt & Hepner, 2013;Koch, Everett, Phillips, & Davidson, 2014;West, Usher, & Foster, 2010), Canada (Gregory, Harrowing, Lee, Doolittle, & O'Sullivan, 2010;Stansfield & Browne, 2013), Cyprus (Vasiliou et al, 2010), Israel (Arieli & Hirschfeld, 2013;Arieli, Mashiach, Hirschfeld, & Friedman, 2012;Noble, A., Nuszen, Rom, & Noble, L., 2014), New Zealand (Caldwell, Lu, & Harding, 2010), Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Faeroe Islands and Denmark (Bohman & Borglin, 2013;Westerbotn et al, 2015), Taiwan (Perng & Watson, 2012), Thailand (Songwathana, 2013), the United Kingdom (McClimens et al, 2014), and the United States (Abrums, Resnick & Irving, 2010;Batykefer Evans, 2013;Beard 2013Beard , 2014Cantwell, Napierkowski, Gundersen, & Naqvi, 2015;Condon et al, 2013;Dapremont, 2014;Debrew et al, 2014;Dewald, 2012;Dudas, 2012;Dunagan, Kimble, Sweat Gunby, & Andrews, 2014;Fulbright Sumpter & Brooks Carthon, 2011;Greenberg, 2013;Harris et al, 2013;Jeffreys & Dogan, 2012;Junious, Malecha, Tart, & Young, 2010;…”

“…Health and wellness among ethnically/culturally diverse populations may not be optimal for many reasons, including the lack of access to healthcare (Batykefer Evans, 2013;Chandler & Swanston, 2012;Dapremont, 2014;Esposito, 2013;Gordon & Copes, 2010;Songwathana, 2013;West et al, 2010), the lack of comfort that diverse people feel when dealing with those from the dominant culture (Songwathana, 2013), and the provision of culturally dissonant, or incongruous, healthcare (Allen et al, 2013;Arieli & Hirschfeld, 2013;Beard, 2013;Bednarz, Schim, & Doorenbos, 2010;Brooks Carthon, Nguyen, Chittams, Park, & Guevara, 2014;Cantwell et al, 2015;Carter, Powell, Derouin, & Custais, 2015;Chandler & Swanston, 2012;Dudas, 2012;Gordon & Copes, 2010;Long, 2012;West et al, 2010) as provided by nurses who do not share the patients' "ways of life, cultures, thoughts, attitudes and belief system[s]" (Songwathana, 2013, p. 111). Cultural dissonance may occur when the nurses and their patients differ in nation of origin, religion, gender orientation, language and/or other ethnic/cultural differences.…”

“…Many feel that access to culturally resonant, or congruous, healthcare would be best if provided by nurses who are from the same ethnic/ cultural background as the patient (Abrums et al, 2010;Ackerman-Barger, 2010;Arieli & Hirschfeld, 2013;Baker, 2010;Beard, 2013Beard, , 2014Brooks Carthon et al, 2014;Campinha-Bacote, 2010;Chandler & Swanston, 2012;Condon et al, 2013;Dapremont, 2014;Debrew et al, 2014;Harris et al, 2013;Igbo et al, 2011;Jeffreys & Dogan, 2012;Mesler, 2014;Songwathana, 2013;West et al, 2010;Zajac, 2011), because such nurses would be familiar with the "ways of life, cultures, thoughts, attitudes and belief system[s]" (Songwathana, 2013, p 111) of their patients (as they may share nation of origin, religion, gender orientation, language and/or other ethnic/ cultural similarities).…”

“…Condon et al (2013) and Morton-Miller (2013) found that providing ethnically/culturally diverse students who may come from ed-ucationally disadvantaged backgrounds with pre-nursing remediation courses was helpful. Assisting with academic skills (Ackerman-Barger, 2010;Arieli & Hirschfeld, 2013;Batykefer Evans, 2013;Dapremont, 2014) and study skills (Igbo et al, 2011) necessary to succeed, as well as clearly explaining "course expectations" (Ackerman-Barger, p. 680) are suggested. Baker (2010) also mentions that prompt input on exam performance and clinical student practice is beneficial.…”

“…Faculty support and mentoring has been demonstrated to be a very effective approach (Arieli & Hirschfeld, 2013;Arieli et al, 2012;Batykefer Evans, 2013;Brooks Carthon et al, 2014;Cantwell et al, 2015;Dapremont, 2014;Hansen & Beaver, 2012;Junious et al, 2010;Mixer, 2011;Mixer et al, 2013;Veal et al, 2012). Socialization with faculty and fellow students (Batykefer, 2013;Igbo et al, 2011), and increasing the number of ethnically/culturally diverse faculty (Carter et al, 2015) have been shown to increase the academic success of ethnically/ culturally diverse nursing students.…”