Australian Indigenous Cultural competence and nursing

As a strategy for improving culturally safe nursing practice, cultural competency training is increasingly being embraced within undergraduate nursing education. It has been suggested that culturally safe practise, one element of cultural competence, may lessen the health care gap experienced by Indigenous Australians. This project aims to better understand how a cultural competency training subject, NRS194 Indigenous Cultures, Health and Nursing, offered in the Bachelor of Nursing at Charles Sturt University (in New South Wales) is experienced by the students who study this subject, and how these students' experiences may impact their development of cultural competency. The participants of this study are undergraduate students who have completed a subject titled NRS194 Indigenous Cultures, Health and Nursing in session 2 of 2012. The qualitative research method of phenomenology was used to explore students’ experiences, perceptions, and learning about cultural competency. How students learn about cultural competence within undergraduate nursing was examined with the aim of illuminating the development of cultural competence in an undergraduate nursing degree. This paper is presenting the outline of phase 1 of a three phase research project.