Examining student nurses’ perceptions of diverse populations: Are student nurses prepared to care for culturally diverse patients?

Abstract

Background/Objectives: The purpose of this study is to examine student nurses’ perceptions of diverse population, as experienced through their clinical environments in nursing school. Student nurses will encounter diverse populations in practice; nursing education must critically address how students are being prepared to care for diverse populations and the strategies that assist students to be successful in caring for those with different values and beliefs than themselves.

Methods: Denzin’s Interpretive Interactionism was used to elicit meaning from eight senior level nursing students from a baccalaureate nursing program.

Results: Commonality in students’ stories was expressed through their experiences where three themes emerged: unprepared for cultural diversity, care should be personalized, and moral challenges.

Conclusion: Responses from students in this study indicate that their acquisition of knowledge was not sufficient to engender understanding of the network of concepts inherent in cultural diversity. Stories indicate classroom and clinical experiences were not sufficient for student nurses to care for diverse populations with confidence in their abilities.