INTEGRATING CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN THE SIMULATION EXPERIENCES OF BACCALAUREATE NURSING STUDENTS THROUGHOUT THE CURRICULUM

COURSE DESCRIPTION
Students that are educated in a traditional setting acquire knowledge about cultural competent care through book and lecture format. In the simulation experience of students in a BACCALAUREATE program, students review cultural care in pre and post-conference sessions, receive immediate feedback from Simman, tailor future care, and even have the ability to interact with family and ancillary staff actors to deepen cultural awareness. The simulation experience encourages cultural competence to develop over time and allows students to polish their skills a safe setting. Students can further their simulation experience by practicing high acuity low incidence procedures in the Simulation Labratory. In the simulation experience students can review cultural care in the preconference session and then apply appropriate care to Simman in varied scenarios. Students receive immediate responses from Simman and use feedback to tailor future care. Students have the ability to interact with “family” and “ancillary staff” to deepen cultural awareness. In debriefing sessions feedback can be geared to actual interactions utilizing video play-back as well as instructor observation.
Many students enter the clinical setting with little or no exposure to cultures other than their own. In nursing school, the simulation experience provides the student with a safe setting to expand their knowledge of other cultures. The students can gain basic cultural knowledge and develop appropriate interaction skills while practicing in-situ communication with Simman. Students can learn to tailor conversation, body language and actual care to a variety of cultures through the simulation experience. One may propose that students will leave the simulation laboratory and enter the clinical setting with more skill, confidence and awareness of how to provide culturally competent care to the multicultural population of today’s hospital.