Cross Cultural Education at UHM School of Nursing

Cross Cultural Healthcare Conference

Kristine Qureshi, RN, DNSc, CEN, APHN-BC

October 7, 2011

Support for cross-cultural education in the School of Nursing

School mission and values (creates a milieu) Assurance of a culturally diverse student

body & faculty Programs and practices that support

culturally mediated needs of individual students

Curriculum that supports development of cultural competence

Mission & Strategic Plan

School Mission

Provide innovative, caring, and multicultural environment… develop and transmit knowledge, wisdom and values to promote quality of life and health

Strategic Plan based on core commitments of:

R Research E Educational

effectiveness S Social justice P Place E Economic

development C Culture T Technology

School of Nursing Strategic Imperatives Include:

Engage faculty and students in a modern, dynamic, and multicultural curriculum, supported by exceptional student centered learning environments and state of the art technologies, resulting in excellence in education

Programs and practices that support assurance of a culturally diverse student body & faculty

School of Nursing has 580 students, 110 ( 19%) are NH or PI

Efforts to recruit minority and underserved students from State (Oahu and NI); USAPI; mainland

Efforts to recruit minority faculty Programs that target culturally diverse students

RWJ foundation: scholarships for minority students

HRSA Advanced Nursing Education Grants: student recruitment and faculty support for enhanced education for all minority groups

Kamehameha Native Hawaiian Nursing Scholar Program: recruitment, tuition support and faculty support for NH graduate nursing education

Faculty support for individualstudents & Special programs

Recognize that each student comes to the school from their own culture: Ethnicity Economic status (culture of poverty) Regional culture (Mainland [east coast, west coast,

middle America]; Hawaii [Oahu, Neighbor Island]; Pacific Islands; etc.

Cultural differences noted that may conflict with university culture: Time orientation Sense of self confidence / level of assertiveness Social obligations (e.g.: extended family &

bereavement obligations, etc.) Communication Teacher – student relationship

Key Programs: `IKE AO PONO`E ALA PONO

Support for individual students:Organization: A large school becomes a smaller school

Nursing School organized into smaller unitsUndergraduate

By year: sophomore, junior, senior Each year has a director, and then each core clinical course

has a course coordinatorGraduate

By program, and then specialty. Each Program and Specialty has a Director

PhD MS Nurse Practitioner Clinical Nurse Specialist Advanced Public Health Nursing Executive Leadership

Through smaller units, the coordinators and program directors really know the students and their special needs that might be culturally mediated

Curriculum that incorporates cultural competence with general learning…

Influence of culture on health and healing are in objectives of almost every course

Specific courses (e.g.: Hlth. and Heal. Prac. of NH and PI)

Clinical sites: target cultural diversity

Clinical / Field experiences: Ho`oulu ‘Aina Garden Senior Citizen Centers Homeless Shelters Special Programs: TuTu and Me

Successes and Questions to Ponder…….

Successes… Organizationally Programmatically Recruitment Curriculum

Questions… Student satisfaction with

cultural support services?? Is our curriculum really shaped

by our sense of place and culture in HI??

Are our teaching methods consistent with NH and PI cultural norms??

Enculturation of new faculty from outside HI??

Incorporation of more inter-professional collaboration??

Summary

Cross cultural education supported at all levels: Yet: we can always do better!!

Proactive (rather than reactive) problem solving for issues emanating from differences in cultural norms of students

Inter-professional education that spans the different cultures of each profession

Ascertain student and employer satisfaction with our cultural education

Global cultural competence.. How do our graduates compete in the global arena? Do we need to focus more outside of HI and the PI???

Mahalo!– questions or comments?

Questions??