School Nurse Cultural Competency Development Using the National CLAS Standards: A Quality Improvement Project

Abstract

As numbers of culturally diverse students rise, struggles with language, cultural differences, and health care create challenges for school nurses. The focus of this quality improvement project was to utilize the National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) as a framework to initiate cultural competency development among school nurses. Eighteen public school nurses attended programming that began with the webinar “CLAS is in Session,” an introduction to the standards as applicable to school nursing practice. Outcome measures included self-report of cultural awareness and sensitivity (CAS) and culturally competent behaviors (CCB). A greater percentage of nurses reported feeling “somewhat competent” after program completion, though CAS and CCB scores did not significantly change. Despite lack of measurable improvement in CCB, implementation of the CLAS Standards created an important starting point for CC programming.

Language Access for Families With Limited English Proficiency: Why Does It Matter?

“…Not all school nurses may recognize the unique needs of children and families who have immigrated (Hurrell et al, 2021). Therefore, this manuscript aims to provide background about human migration and its potential impact on the health of children and their immediate families.…”